When it comes to checking out online, the payments process is incredibly important to shoppers. It’s all too easy for shoppers to stop mid-checkout or put items in their cart and simply walk away or drift off to other sites.

A good payment experience can mean the difference between completing the transaction or falling victim to distraction. By offering your shoppers a good payment experience, you can help build trust and make visitors more likely to complete a purchase.

So how can you help create a positive payment process? Make it easy for customers to check out and offer them relevant payment methods.

  • 44% of online shoppers are more likely to trust a seller if they have a good payments process1
  • 30% of online shoppers are more likely to shop on a merchant site if they know their preferred payment method is accepted[i]

When shoppers see payment methods they like at checkout, it can help put them at ease—which may make them more likely to see their purchase through. This is a big deal because cart abandonment rates are on the rise—in 2017 the cart abandonment rate went up 78% on average and even more on mobile devices. The trend shows that mobile device cart abandonment went up to 85.6% in 2017[ii]. One reason shoppers cite as to why they have abandoned their carts in the past is because their favorite payment method isn’t there[iii]. Consumers want to see the payment methods they know and use. It builds familiarity and credibility, which can influence their decision to move forward with a purchase.

What can you do as a seller to help gain your customers’ trust so they continue with their buying journey? How can you help ensure that shoppers hit “purchase” instead of hitting the road and leaving their items behind in their carts? Offer relevant payment options to your customers. Make it easy for them to find the payment options they use regularly and give them the confidence that they have options.

paypal woman shopping

Some shoppers may prefer to use their credit cards, while others who are making multiple mobile purchases each week may prefer payment services like Venmo[iv] where they can pay from their mobile device and even share about what they bought on their social feed in the app. The same shopper could even use different payment methods for different kinds of purchases they make. The point is, every customer (and every purchase) is different. So why are you offering them all the same checkout experience? They want you to “get” them and give them the payment options they like and use. It’s all part of making your shopping experience easy and comfortable for them at every step in the journey.

To help our sellers optimize the checkout experience and reduce cart abandonment, 3dcart has teamed up with PayPal to offer a new feature of PayPal Checkout called Smart Payment ButtonsTM, which is designed to help increase conversions. The Smart Payment Buttons technology automatically anticipates relevant payment methods for a customer and dynamically displays them as options at checkout—all without taking up valuable real estate on your website. This can include the PayPal button that’s already included with your 3dcart website, plus additional payment methods like PayPal Credit[v] and Venmo[vi] in the U.S., as well as other local alternative payment options in some countries[vii].

Why is this important? Options are appealing, especially when they are relevant to your customers and the types of products they are buying. For example, when your customers have larger ticket items in their cart, PayPal Credit can give them the option of special financing. They have the flexibility to pay over time, which can make the purchase much easier on their budget and make them more likely to purchase something they might not be able to pay for all at once. In fact, more than half of PayPal Credit users say they wouldn't have made their purchase if that option wasn’t available[viii]. And the best part is you get paid in full up front.

paypal woman on phone at desk

For mobile savvy shoppers who use Venmo on their mobile device to split the bill with their friends or send money for a shared ride, the Venmo button can now appear as a payment choice at checkout. With 68% of American millennials who use mobile payment apps using Venmo4, this may inspire trust in a large segment of buyers by offering them a payment option they already know, and potentially make them more likely to buy your products.

The bottom line is, the way shoppers like to pay varies widely. With PayPal Checkout and Smart Payment Buttons, you have an easy way to automatically deliver relevant options to your shoppers right at checkout. You can even go so far as to update the button colors to match your visual style for a custom experience on your site. It all adds up to a unique and connected experience for your customers, and that can turn into love and loyalty for your business.   

 

Increasing conversions—by the numbers

  • 28% of US online shoppers who have abandoned a purchase did so because their preferred payment option was not available1
  • 44% of online shoppers are more likely to trust a seller if they have a good payments process1
  • 30% of online shoppers are more likely to shop on a merchant site if they know their preferred payment method is accepted1
  • 53% of PayPal Credit users say they wouldn’t have made their purchase if PayPal Credit wasn’t available8
  • 68% of Millennials using payment app use Venmo4
  • 78% increase in average cart abandonment rate in 20172
  • 6% increase in mobile cart abandonment rate in 20172

 

[i] IPSOS Mori. 2018 Online Payment Experiences Study. The IPSOS study was commissioned by PayPal and conducted in July 2018. Study of 10,500 people, including 6,930 PayPal users, across the US, UK, Germany, Australia, Italy, Spain and Brazil (1,500 people per market).

[ii] Barilliance “Complete List of Cart Abandonment Statistics: 2006-2018.” https://www.barilliance.com/cart-abandonment-rate-statistics/#tab-con-7

[iii] IPSOS Mori. 2018 Online Payment Experiences Study. The IPSOS study was commissioned by PayPal and conducted in July 2018. Study of 10,500 people, including 6,930 PayPal users, across the US, UK, Germany, Australia, Italy, Spain and Brazil (1,500 people per market).

[iv] LendEDU, “Best Mobile Payment Apps – Survey & Report”, 2017. N=2,170 Millennials. Q: Which of the following mobile payment apps do you use most often?

[v] PayPal Credit is subject to consumer credit approval.

[vi] Venmo is available for US shoppers only.

[vii] A limited number of local alternative payment methods are currently available with more being added regularly.

[viii] Study commissioned by PayPal and conducted by comScore Research. comScore survey administered in Q3 2017 to over 2,100 U.S. adults who have made online purchases.