7 ways to increase ecommerce sales

"Electronic commerce," "ecommerce," "e-commerce, Ecommerce"—however you spell it, doing business online has become the norm for both consumers and businesses. Indeed, if there were a word of the year in commerce in 2020, it would most likely be "ecommerce."

In the accelerated shift to digital, ecommerce sales worldwide increased by 24.1 percent last year to nearly $4.29 trillion. And 2022 isn't going to be any slower.

Despite the significant increase in online purchases, the majority of customers abandon their shopping carts at the checkout. According to the most recent statistics, the average shopping cart abandonment rate on ecommerce sites is 69.8 percent. A large portion of these shoppers are "just browsing" and are not ready to buy, but those who are ready to hit "submit" end up exiting for simple reasons.

With these seven simple payment optimization strategies, you can greatly increase your chances of converting consumers from browsers to buyers–and thus increase ecommerce sales.

1. Accept a variety of payment methods and currencies

Payment methods through online payment gateway are diversifying, and your customers use them all. Although credit and debit cards remain popular, alternative payment methods are on the rise. Don't forget to consider gift cards and loyalty points as payment options.

In fact, Gen Z–those born between 1996 and 2010–use digital payment methods far more than previous generations. According to one study, Gen Z converts twice as much as previous generations via mobile. As a result, if you don't accept mobile wallet payments, you'll be less likely to make a sale among a large portion of online shoppers.

2. Think cross-border

When considering online payments, keep the big picture in mind. Your ecommerce business most likely already attracts customers from markets other than your own. However, if you do not accept their local payment methods and currencies, there may be a disconnect. This immediately broadens your market–and thus your revenue potential. We live in a globalised world where your customers do business across borders rather than just where you are located. Accepting a variety of payment methods and currencies will enable you to reach an even larger number of customers.

3. Offer favorable purchasing terms

There is no such thing as a "one-size-fits-all" world. And neither should your payment options.

In situations like these, consider offering your customers deferred billing, recurring billing, and installment payments. Did you know that more than one-third of consumers between the ages of 18 and 37 say that installment payments influenced their purchase decision?

Consider what advantageous purchasing options you can provide to your customers to allow them to pay their own way, and include that option in your online checkout.

4. Streamline the checkout process

Have you ever had to fill out both the ship-to and billing address fields, even if they were identical? Businesses that can auto-fill these fields or, even better, offer a one-click checkout process optimize the shopping experience, increasing the likelihood of repeat business. Having this payment convenience, also known as card storage, makes it easier for customers to return for a quick and easy checkout experience. As a result, increased revenue potential and excellent customer service.

5. Ensure Accuracy

It's unavoidable; in fact, it happens more frequently than you might think. Your customers' payment information will change, causing friction in the payment process. When expiration dates pass, customers must update card information stored from previous transactions, which slows down the checkout process. Changing payment information in the best payment gateway may also cause any automated payments customers have previously set up with you to fail. To avoid this, we recommend that our customers use card updater services, which automatically refresh your customers' account information when it changes. With this payment service in place, there will be no disruption to the checkout process–or to their ongoing service–reinforcing a seamless customer experience and allowing you to be paid on time.

6. Deliver a seamless, branded experience

It has been proven that the less friction in your checkout process, the higher your checkout conversion rate. Customers making a purchase used to be redirected to another webpage owned by the payment processor to enter their credit card information when merchants hosted their payment gateway with a third-party. This was a clear disruption to the seamless customer experience, which hampered sales. That was back then.

You can now provide a consistent brand experience throughout the checkout process. Make sure your logo is clearly visible on each page and that your brand colors and design elements are incorporated into the payment process. This will give your customers confidence that they are purchasing from a reputable company.

7. Analyze to optimize ecommerce sales

All of these front-end payment strategies can result in better customer experiences and increased revenue for your company. But don't overlook the wealth of valuable information at your disposal on the back end. Reporting tools provide valuable insights to assist you in optimising checkout conversion. Consider learning the reasons for declined transactions, chargebacks, and disputes. You can use this information to improve your business. You can also use sales trends to better plan for a variety of situations, such as seasonal increases. Data is power, and these are the key performance indicators (KPIs) to help you manage and grow your business.

With these suggestions, you'll be able to reduce your online shopping cart abandonment rate, increase ecommerce sales, and develop a scalable online payments strategy for this year and beyond.