Boosting conversion rates with cross-channel payments

By Mark Walker, Head of Sales – Ingenico Enterprise Retail

Even before the pandemic hit, many customers were defaulting to online shopping. For years eCommerce has been on the rise, and as such has opened up boundless opportunities for consumers – including products and services across the water.

These opportunities have also extended to retailers, whose customer base has expanded to international audiences. However, targeting overseas isn’t as simple as offering worldwide shipping. Each market is unique, requiring different currencies, languages, payment preferences and more.

Cross-border payments can also present a lot of new costs and overheads which can make businesses unsure if cross-border payments are an opportunity worth pursuing. Let’s take a look at the benefits of cross-border and how businesses can extend their services abroad.

Personalise and localise

What does your target market expect from the shopping experience? Key things to consider are how they shop (e.g. laptop, mobile), what they consume (e.g. popular products and services), and any other specific preferences they may have (e.g. currency, language).

Imagine you’re an Italian shopper on a UK ecommerce website – if you’re only offered English language settings and the option to pay in pounds sterling, is it going to fill you with much confidence to buy from that store? Or would you look to a competitor that offers your language and payment preferences? Localising your website and payment preferences does not just provide better customer experience, it gives you a competitive advantage.

Remaining familiar to customers really matters – our research has shown that “up to 42% of customers are likely to drop off and search for an alternative website if their preferred payment method is not offered at the checkout.” That’s a huge percentage of customers who get all the way to the checkout page, only to drop off because they do not trust the method you’re offering.

So, localising your payments options is vital to attracting customers across the globe. And the fact is, if customers have a bad experience once and choose not to complete a payment with your business, they’re unlikely to come back and try again.

Go omnichannel

Although online is on the rise, this does not mean that in-store is redundant. In fact, in-store offers a range of its own advantages, which can be further bolstered by applying digital methods. Nowadays, the in-store experience must reflect the convenience of the online experience as customers get used to the convenience of digital payments and one-day delivery.

The advent of smartphones and 4G has provided budding customers with a wealth of product info at their fingertips. If salespeople are not adequately equipped this may prove a disadvantage to in-store, but if they are equipped, it can be a great advantage. With mobile smart devices and their own expert knowledge, salespeople can not only cut through the noise and hassle of online research with a professional opinion, but they can also make sales and take payments there and then.

This means that no matter where your customers are based, they can get the same service whether they are in-store or online, unifying the retail experience across all your retail channels.

Cross-border payments made simple

So now you know a bit more about cross-border payments, you are probably thinking: ‘But, how?’. Thanks to the proliferation of online shopping, trade agreements and delivery networks, cross border payments are simpler than ever. However, consumers differ across the globe according to the languages they speak and cultural differences that affect the way they like to shop.

With this in mind, it is beneficial for retailers to partner with a payments professional with the right expertise and who can ensure that the entire experience from start to finish is familiar and easy for the consumer. With such a system in place, consumers do not even need to think about where they are buying from – they can simply focus on receiving the best service for them.

By providing customers with the payments channels they require, wherever they are, merchants can be sure to increase their sales and conversion rates and provide a competitive cross-channel customer experience.