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6 ways your billing system can improve customer retention

Tag: payment options

6 ways your billing system can improve customer retention
Mohab Growth Hacks 0

6 ways your billing system can improve customer retention

As a business owner, you need to appreciate the importance of customer retention. A solid customer retention strategy helps save money on marketing, boosts repeat sales, accords your business free word of mouth advertising, reduces customer churn rate, builds a loyal customer base and helps collect invaluable feedback from your customers.  A study by Reichheld of Bain & Company published on the Harvard Business Review says acquiring one customer is 5-25% more expensive than retaining an existing one. The same study shows a 5% increase in customer retention rates boosts profits by 25% to 95%. There’s no overemphasizing the importance of customer retention in today’s overly competitive business landscape.

One of the most effective strategies for online businesses to build loyalty among the existing customers is to take payments online. If you have been wondering how you can improve your online business fortunes, this article highlights the importance of a billing system in customer retention. Read on.

  1. Personalize the customer’s experience

One of the most conspicuous changes in business marketing is increasing focus on personalization. The modern day consumer has become accustomed to customized experiences everywhere they go to including Facebook, online shopping sites and utility service providers.

If you have a billing system, make sure you offer a tailored experience to retain your customers. Provide a single customer account interface and provide real-time processing. The customer needs to own the billing process and you must ensure this by using a payment gateway which you can customize.

  1. Reduce involuntary churn

The modern shopper has an infamous short attention span and they want instant gratification. While most consumers make conscious decisions to leave an online store, others walk away due to weak technology. This is involuntary churn and you must avoid it in your billing system. Make sure your billing system offers automatic retry, account updater services and multiple payment options in case the primary one fails. The rule of thumb is never to allow a problematic payment get in the way of customer relationship.

  1. Use a self-Service portal to provide a better user experience

The best billing system comes with a one-stop-shop portal where customers can complete all transactions. Most of your customers today have a lot of tech know-how and they want to stay in control. A self-service portal reduces waiting times and poor satisfaction levels caused by your delayed customer resolution to issues.

  1. Provide flexible payment options

The modern shopper wants a variety of choices in everything and when it comes to online payments, your billing system must offer convenience. It is no wonder then that a recent YouGov survey published on the Retail Technology Review says 50% of shoppers cancel a purchase if their preferred payment method is unavailable on a site. Simply put, your billing system must accommodate multiple payments to avoid customer churn.

  1. Improve system efficiency

In the online business ecosystem, you need systems operating like clockwork. If you accept payments online, your billing system should offer a seamless experience. The system should provide crucial information instantly to both the customer and your customer service team. This, in turn, leads to higher customer ratings and reduced customer defections.

  1. Leverage billing data for better service delivery

Data is one of the most crucial assets that any business can invest in today. Now that you have a self-service portal on your billing system, you can collect invaluable data which will help create memorable customer experiences. You can monitor customers’ preferences, offer custom content on email marketing, contact a specific customer to follow up on any changes in their service portal and so much more.

There are many other ways your billing system can improve customer retention levels for your business. It is a seamless platform to build an engaging relationship with your customers, improve the user experience, provide a personalized experience, and offer payment convenience. With an efficient payment system on your online store, you are already on the right path in your customer retention journey.

6 years ago
Launching an E-Commerce Business? Here are 7 Web Design Mistakes To Avoid
Mohab Growth Hacks 0

Launching an E-Commerce Business? Here are 7 Web Design Mistakes To Avoid

The growth of e-commerce is simply phenomenal. In 2017 alone, the ecommerce industry accounted for around $2.3 trillion in sales, and the number will grow to $4.5 trillion in 2021 according to Statista. In the U.S., e-commerce accounts for 10% of retail sales with a projected increase of 15% each year. But it is not all rosy because millions of ecommerce stores collapse within a few months of launch.  According to a Fortune Report, more than half of startups fail, and this should be a warning sign. One of the main reasons for such failure is poor web design. Now that all your transactions will happen online, you need a professionally designed website to meet growing demand from your customers. Many online retailers rush to set up stores only to experience hiccups arising from unreliable e-commerce designs.

This article highlights some of the most common design mistakes that online retailers make and proposes tips to avoid them. Read on.

  1. Poor Image Quality

The power of visuals in marketing cannot be overemphasized.  Your e-commerce website images are the first thing visitors will see and if they are not impressive, it is likely you will lose business. The online shoppers have many choices with other online stores competing for their attention. If you don’t display high-resolution product images, you risk turning off potential buyers because they will question your credibility. Investing in high-resolution images is similar to a brick-and-mortar store investing in lighting and other techniques to improve product displays.

  1. Confusing/ Scanty Product Descriptions

When potential customers visit your ecommerce store, they expect to get all the information they need about your products or services. A major pitfall in ecommerce web design is a failure to include clear, helpful product description or worse still, using scanty and confusing descriptions. Good copywriting and product descriptions are integral in your e-commerce web design to avoid high bounce rates and high cart abandonment rates. Provide relevant information but avoid overloading the product descriptions as this might confuse the readers.

  1. Limited Payment Methods

One of the most important aspects of a good e-commerce web design is seamless user experience. To provide this, you not only have to take payments online but you must make the process fast and easy. You should use a payment gateway that allows multiple payment options to deliver an enjoyable user experience. Your e-commerce design must integrate multiple payment options to avoid cart abandonment and to ensure the customer completes the purchase journey.

  1. Lack of Customer Support Information

While online shopping has increased tremendously over the years, most shoppers still need a lot of information before completing purchases. For this reason, your e-commerce web design must integrate a well-detailed contact page for easy communication. Include all communication channels including phone, email, social media networks, and live chat among others.  If a customer needs to contact your store, it should be a quick and simple process. For this reason, add your contact information in strategic places on the web pages.

  1. Failure to Include Shipping Information

A quick glance at most online customer complaints shows that shipping is a very critical issue. It can make or break your e-commerce store. If you want to create a seamless user experience, make sure you provide comprehensive shipping information on your e-commerce website.

Failure to include shipping details including proper shipping rates, timelines, product tracking and other details is a common web design mistake that you have to avoid. It leads to low revenues because shoppers need these details before making a purchase.

  1. Cluttered/Over-Crowded/ Complicated Design

Don’t fall for the temptation to include everything in your website because this will lead to loss of business. Online shoppers have a short attention span and they want to find whatever they need fast. Avoid an overcrowded web design as it is ugly and confuses potential buyers.

  1. A Non- Mobile-Friendly Web Design

Google has already indicated that mobile internet has surpassed desktop access and this is enough reason to invest in mobile-friendly web designs. A responsive e-commerce website helps leverage the growing mobile internet market. With Mobile First Index, Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) Project and other initiatives emphasizing the importance of mobile, you can only overlook a mobile-friendly web design at your own peril.

There are many other web design flaws such as slow loading time, complicated sign-up forms, dated design, lack of clear call to action (CTA) among others. Avoid these web design mistakes to deliver a world-class customer experience which in turn leads to reduction in bounce rates, higher sales conversion, customer loyalty, and a good brand image.

6 years ago
4 Easy Steps to Improve Your Payment Experience
Mohab Growth Hacks 0

4 Easy Steps to Improve Your Payment Experience

Your payment process may seem technical, almost insignificant. But with over ¾ of shoppers choosing to abandon their cart, your payment gateway is worth considering.

To help you boost your sales, we have found four possible solutions – simplify, clear instructions, broadening your means of payment, and ensuring safety.

Simplify

Critical to the success of purchase completion, your process must be simple and easy to use. Don’t clutter your portal attempting to sell the user a few more items. Make sure the user can review their cart, click back to the main page if necessary, and place emphasis on buttons or links that move the purchase along.

It can be helpful to work with a UX designer or commit to user testing to see where your design might be confusing your customers.

Clear Instructions

Similar to the point of simplification, you need to make sure that all instructions are clear and to the point. Use conversational language, and on each screen, only include information that is crucial to that step in the process.

If possible, include accessible options, such as audio instructions. And if your site is serving a multilingual audience, it may be prudent to invest in translation.  Over 70% of consumers are willing to buy products with information in their native language. If your userbase largely speaks Spanish, but your payment process is in English, it may discourage them from finishing the task.

Payment and Receipts

In order to make the payment process as painless as possible, it’s best to include various forms of payment options. This includes not only accepting credit and debit cards like Visa, Mastercard, and American Express, but also accepting digital payment methods like PayTabs.

You should also make coupon options clear-cut, with the customer either selecting the coupon, or inserting the code. In countries like India, many consumers still prefer cash on delivery payment methods, so excluding this may prompt users to abandon their purchase.

Furthermore, it is important to send out a receipt after payments are completed so that the consumer builds confidence in your system. Whether a physical product will be shipped or not, it is vital to send the consumer an email receipt.

Ensure Safety

Lastly, safety is of the upmost importance. While the data provided for the user is important for completing a purchase, that same information could destroy their lives if in the wrong hands. And this doesn’t just provide security for the consumer – it helps you as well. After all, you don’t want to be entangled in a case of payment fraud.

In order to ensure your payment portals are secure, make sure to follow SSL protocols. Users will recognize if you have this functionality immediately, as a lock icon will appear in the URL bar. This is a cost-effective way to improve your security and build consumer trust.

In addition to becoming PCI compliant, make sure never to store payment information on your servers, especially credit or debit card information. Consider using tokenization to randomize the secure data sent to your servers. This will boost your security considerably and minimize payment fraud.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, your consumers will benefit from a simplified design and easy-to-read instructions. Furthermore, accepting various payment methods will make the process easier in case of card failure or other technical mishaps, and keeping your site secure will protect both you and the consumer.

A properly maintained and designed payment gateway helps to build trust with the consumer, so that they will not only buy from you again, but they will also enjoy the experience.

6 years ago
5 Reasons to Accept Multiple Types of Payments
Mohab Growth Hacks 0

5 Reasons to Accept Multiple Types of Payments

It is impossible to miss how all kinds of businesses are going online these days, all over the world. This is primarily because an online store guarantees to connect you with countless customers from your own country as well others, making your business a more successful venture than ever before. While you are excited about offering your products and services to worldwide shoppers, you should not overlook the fact that providing these shoppers multiple payment options is mandatory these days. And consequently, you need a payment gateway like PayTabs that offers alternative payment options and accepts almost all currencies. Why you say? Read on to know the reasons!

  1. To boost your revenue

Offering multiple payment methods to your customers means they will have a better time shopping from your ecommerce store. This is because they will be able to pay whichever way they want, without having to face issues like “Only credit card accepted” and so on. And the more they buy, the more your revenue will shoot up! For instance, PayTabs is a global payment gateway that accepts multiple currencies and offers a wide array of payment options like American Express, Visa, MasterCard, Sadad, Mada, Union Pay, WeChat Pay, Alipay, and K-net.

  1. To keep old customers hooked

Just because your existing customers use a debit or credit card to make purchases from your online store right now doesn’t mean that they won’t look for a card-less payment option in the future! And this is where using a payment gateway that offers quick and safe transactions without any card can be beneficial.

  1. To secure new and repeat customers

By offering multiple payment methods, you will also be able to attract new customers who prefer digital payments using e-wallets. And because gateways like PayTabs also accepts a huge number of currencies, your business will appeal to both domestic and international customers. The number of repeat customers will also go up because once a shopper experiences payment convenience at your store, he will keep coming back for more. For example, if a customer finds that he can easily buy a burger from you through mobile payment wouldn’t he want to do that again? Of course he will!

  1. To promote convenience and sell more

A friction-less shopping experience is all that a shopper wants. And as a merchant, you can offer multiple payment options to make this happen. In other words, if a customer wants to pay through debit card, he should be able to pay through a debit card. Offering this convenience will encourage shoppers to buy more and buy more frequently. If you couple this with discounts and coupons, your sale figure will go through the roof!

  1. To diminish overhead costs

Instead of putting in a lot of money for one expensive payment method, you can go for different payment methods which include low-cost options as well. Especially, if you are the owner of a small business in a risky industry and face a low volume of transaction, you should go for a wide array of payment options to bring in more customers and keep your overhead costs low.

Last but not the least; using a payment gateway that offers many different payment methods will mean increased cash flow. And you surely know that any business can benefit from a healthy cash flow and tide over emergencies easily. So, consider PayTabs as your gateway, offer more “payment choices” to your customers and gain a definite edge over your competition.

6 years ago
Expand Your eCommerce Business by Offering Newer Payment Options
Mohab Growth Hacks 0

Expand Your eCommerce Business by Offering Newer Payment Options

The e-commerce landscape is changing drastically. According to the latest trends, when it comes to the entire shopping experience, customers are looking for flexibility and convenience. With regard to that, the payment function online is very troublesome. Most of the customers will cancel their purchases if their favorite payment option is not available.

According to a survey by YouGov, more than 40% of the participants said that they feel more comfortable if the web store they have chosen offers multiple gateways and different modes of payment. E-Commerce sites are offering more and more payment options. With digital wallets and contactless & mobile payment options, people are looking for credit card alternatives.

In order to maintain a higher conversion rate, you need to be aware of the growing demand of customers for better alternatives and inclusion of popular methods of payments. Because of the diversity of demographics and the choices available, people have developed biases against particular modes of payment – and it can either be a credit card or a particular digital wallet.

Here are a few necessary things to take care of when offering payment options:

Make it convenient, simple and easy
Convenience is the key when it comes to choosing the mode of payment. Many people abandon the effort when they reach the Shopping Cart because an e-commerce web-store doesn’t provide them with the required payment options. Customers get impatient and demand better service and ease of use. So, if you provide additional modes of payment, you make the life of your customer easy.

Bring in a touch of professionalism
If you take customer psychology into consideration, you will find that that web stores that provide multiple modes of payment look more professional, reliable and worthy of endorsement.

Capture an international audience
With lots of choices available, you will do better to have an eye on international customers who have to use different modes of payment according to their personal and local preferences. Forget about countries, sometimes even different regions in a country have different preferences.

Create loyal customers
customer frustration is not just about preferred modes of payment. Transaction failures are also responsible for customers looking for alternatives. Sometimes, they get frustrated when they choose a particular mode of payment and the transaction fails repeatedly. Even customer support is not able to address these issues immediately and the entire experience may result into customer leaving your site and going to your competition.

According to the research firm, Bain and Company, if you increase the rate of customer retention by 5%, you are definitely heading towards increasing your profits by more than 95%. So, give your customers a wide range of options, so that in case of transaction failure, you can still divert them to another mode of payment and save their purchase.

Choose the right option between Integrated and hosted gateways
Again, there are two types of payment gateways:

  1. Integrated gateways
    With integrated gateways, the customer performs the entire checkout process on your website without being redirected to the third-party website. It offers them the smoothest experience, but it can be less secure. In this case, the responsibility of maintaining security lies on you as the service provider. Make sure that you are PCI compliant, so that the payment process taking place on your website is safe and secure.
  2. Hosted gateway
    When you redirect a customer to a hosted gateway, they are being directed to a third-party website which takes care of the customer’s transaction. In this case, customer experience might suffer. It is not as smooth as the first option, but in this case, you need not worry about the security issues as the responsibility of maintaining security lies with the third-party website. If you are a startup and have a low budget, you can go for this option, because to ensure security you need to invest heavily.

 
Therefore, payment gateways play an important role in customer retention and customer experience. Make sure that you provide enough payment options to your customers, so that they love the entire experience on your site and, especially when they are making their payment. It will ensure less customer loss or abandonment at the shopping cart and increased customer loyalty.

6 years ago