The Power of Payments in eCommerce: How to Surprise, Delight and Retain Customers

The power of payments in eCommerce:

How to surprise, delight and retain customers

It is well known that online shoppers have a low tolerance for poor customer experiences. Research shows that 6% of consumers would permanently turn their back on a brand after just two poor experiences. 1

41% of consumers state that a common eCommerce frustration is irrelevant results when searching site contents. 2 But serving up accurate search results is hardly delighting a customer. The ability to offer a great customer experience that surprises, delights, and fosters loyalty is increasingly driven by payment journeys.

How can payments surprise and delight?

Surprise customers by going above and beyond service expectations. Offer innovative subscription models and solve payment issues before they result in disappointment and cart abandonment.

Alternative Payment Methods

(APMs) are expected to make up around 28% of total payment volumes by 2026. 3 Offering the latest APMs shows customers your brand understands their needs and preferences. A seamless checkout experience or one-click checkout lets customers get on with their day.

When a customer changes their mind or is unhappy with a purchase, instant refunds are a welcome surprise. It tells customers their satisfaction is at the top of your priority list.

These memorable moments can have tangible business impact and deliver a meaningful distinction in crowded retail markets. Creating these kinds of emotional responses not only drives repeat customers but is the foundation of great brands.

Accept new payment types

Demonstrate that you know and cater to your customers’ payment preferences. In addition to traditional card acceptance, APMs could include bank transfers, eWallets, BNPL instalments and many more.

The pace of APM adoption is set to increase. The value of digital wallet transactions alone is expected to grow from $7.5 trillion to over $12 trillion by 2026. 4 Today, 9% of shoppers will already abandon their cart if online stores do not offer their preferred payment methods. 5

9% of shoppers will leave the purchase if not able to use their preferred payment method

The penetration of individual APMs differs between geographies. For example, iDEAL is popular in the Netherlands, while Przelewy24 is big in Poland, and POLi has widespread use in New Zealand and Australia.

Most popular payment methods by region:

Choosing a payment service provider that offers access to a broad range of APMs will ensure seamless payment coverage in the target markets through a single technical integration.

Offer one-click payments

A large-scale eCommerce site can potentially increase conversion rate by 35% through better checkout UX according to research. 6

Typing in payment details when making a purchase is a common example of where UX can be improved. Bypassing this with a single click payment option is a welcome surprise that removes friction in the buyer journey. One-click payments allow businesses to speed up transactions and enhance UX by using information previously submitted and stored securely on a token.

Refund instantly (and make it easy to cancel)

Delighting customers is not only about accepting their preferred payment methods - giving back can be equally important. Problems related to return policy account for at least 32% of lost customers 7 .

While keeping the cash in your account for as long as possible makes good sense to the Finance department, you are likely to be missing an opportunity to surprise and delight customers.

Issuing refunds is a chance to provide a great customer

3.2 out of 10 – consumers will leave their purchases if they experience problems with returns

experience when your buyers most value it and show customers they can trust your brand to buy with confidence.

Similarly, businesses who offer subscriptions that are difficult to cancel or have long contractual lock-ins are likely to start losing customers. Research indicates that 80% of consumers are more willing to subscribe if they can cancel easily online . 8

Fix problems before they arise

There are many reasons why a customer might suffer the frustration of a declined transaction.

Strategic thinking has moved past simply processing payments to orchestrating them. By applying some intelligence to every payment processed, the chances of a successful purchase are elevated.

Insufficient funds is the single biggest reason for declined transactions, accounting for at least 25% of all declined transactions. 9 Partial approvals identify these transactions before the issuer declines the payment and offers your customer the option to deposit a lower value that will be approved, or to cancel the transaction altogether.

Around 13% of consumers struggle with payments if they are based in a location different from the seller. To avoid revenue loss, businesses need to choose payment partners with multiple local banking relationships that can make a rules-based evaluation of each transaction

and route the payment to the most appropriate acquirer.

By orchestrating payments in this way, the number of declined transactions is minimized and your processing costs are reduced.

Turn fans into subscribers

Customers who love your products or services may be delighted to buy them on a subscription basis. The global eCommerce subscription market is expected to grow rapidly from US$96.61 billion in 2022 to US$2,419.69 billion by 2028. 10

Payments play an important role in the retention of subscribers as 27% have terminated their subscriptions because of a declined payment. 11

Signing customers on a subscription basis creates an opportunity to further build customer loyalty and is valuable new source of recurring revenue. With a simple API integration or hosted payment page, businesses can easily add a subscription-based service with automatic recurring billing to their existing offering.

Launch a custom-branded payment product

To further delight your customers and ensure your business stands out in the market, consider launching your own payment products, like branded physical or virtual cards to boost brand recognition and customer retention.

Today, it’s not only banks that can provide financial services. Online businesses can offer financial services such as issuing cards for greater customer loyalty, customisation, and reduced payment friction.

Learn more

Where next?

Nuvei can be your innovation-led payment partner that offers the latest technologies to support your online retail business as it expands. Nuvei is the trusted platform for the future of e-commerce.

20 years’ experienceGlobally connected

Highest acceptance rates

Reduced card abandonment

ABOUT NUVEI

Nuvei (Nasdaq: NVEI) (TSX: NVEI) is the Canadian fintech company accelerating the business of clients around the world. Nuvei’s modular, flexible and scalable technology allows leading companies to accept nextgen payments, offer all payout options and benefit from card issuing, banking, risk and fraud management services. Connecting businesses to their customers in more than 200 markets, with local acquiring in 45+ markets, 150 currencies and more than 600 alternative payment methods, Nuvei provides the technology and insights for customers and partners to succeed locally and globally with one integration.

For more information, visit https://nuvei.com/

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