Focus on creating your webstore: Taking payments

Getting your webstore built is an exciting process, but there are two important areas when it comes to getting it right: creating a checkout and taking payments.

From the time when shoppers add something to a basket to the time when they confirm payment is the most delicate of processes and must be handled in the best way possible if you are going to make those all important sales.

Whether you are building your site and all its elements from scratch with a developer or using a shopping cart service provider you will need to have a grasp of the basics. Know what you want.

In this article we will:

Talk through best practices in shopping cart design
Discuss how to streamline check-out processes
Go through the process of choosing payment processor

Shopping cart design

One of the biggest issues facing online retailers is the cart abandonment rate. This is the percentage of customers who add things to their basket but for some reason or another don’t go through with the sale.

One of the latest figures from SaleCycle puts this rate at around 73.6%. With this in mind, retailers need to do everything in their power to optimise their shopping carts for conversions.

There are a number of design features which are widely thought of as best practice when it comes to your shopping cart.

Use multiple call-to-action buttons

Once someone has gone into their shopping cart you need to make the next steps as obvious and easy as possible. Have call-to-action buttons such as Proceed to Check-out and Buy Now in multiple places on the page and try to use different colour for these buttons to make them stand out.

Have a progress tracker

A progress bar at the top of the check-out process will let the customer know how far they are into the payment process. This will stop them from getting frustrated and abandoning the process. The tracker should also allow users to move back and forth in the process without loosing information.

Display some related products along the way

Related items to those in the shopping cart displayed underneath or at the side of the process are a good way to up-sell. It’s a similar strategy as having chocolate bars next to the checkout in a supermarket. Shoppers often like to make impulse buys so by making informed suggestions, you are increasing your chances of making more sales.

Allow customers to edit their shopping carts

There is absolutely nothing more frustrating than having to start the checkout process again if you want to change the contents of your basket. Make this as easy as possible and users won’t have to deviate from their purchase path.

Display security logos

This is especially important for new retailers. Customers need to be reassured that the process is a safe one and their card details are secure. Display your security logos and approved badges to put them at ease.

“Use a secure SSL /padlocked connection to the server and display the logos during the check-out process. Customer perceptions of the security are almost as important as the level of security itself,” says Chris Barling, chairman of SellerDeck.

Be transparent with pricing

One of the main reasons that a lot of shopping carts are abandoned is hidden fees. If you are as transparent as possible with all fees, including shipping costs – it will prevent people from getting annoyed by perceived hidden fees. If you are able to offer free shipping do so and ensure this is also apparent during the payment process.

Streamline the process

Making sure that you have all of the necessary elements of a check-out process is important but all the good work will go out of the window if you can’t make the process as short as possible.

Have as few pages as possible

It is good to let users know how far along into the payment process the are with a tracker but this will be useless if there are just too many pages. Amalgamate as many pages as possible and strip out any extra pages that aren’t necessary for the purchase.

“Keep it as streamlined and as simple as possible,” says Nick Hill, Head of eCommerce at Proporta.co.uk.

“Seriously consider what information you really need to capture, what needs to be mandatory and what is optional. Strip out anything that is not essential. Keep the flow logical and in order, and show a progress bar if applicable so the customer knows how are far they have to go. Aim to minimise the number of clicks the customer has to make to place the order.”

Make registration optional

Most ecommerce stores want their customers to create accounts with them where they can store all of the customer information. But filling in time consuming registration forms can put shoppers off going through with a purchase. It is a good idea to give shoppers an option.

Register now or checkout as a guest. That way if they are in a rush you are less likely to lose a sale.

Fill in fields for returning customers

There has been a lot of fuss about allowing the use of cookies on websites but a lot of the time, the use of cookies will speed up a customers’ experience on a store.

Give customers the option of opt out of accepting cookies but for those that are happy to allow them – use cookies to pre-fill certain fields for your shopper in the checkout. For example Amazon fills in address and payment fields for returning registered customers so they don’t have to.

Choosing a payment processor

Once you have built your site and decided on a shopping cart solution it is time to delve into the payment process on your site. There are two phrases which you will need to understand at this point.

Payment Gateway: This is the bit in between you and your bank. It is used to transfer your customers’ payment details from your site to your bank account.

Merchant Processor: This is the system that communicates with the payment gateway, the customers’ bank and your merchant account.

Merchant Account: This is the specific account you have set up with your bank which allows you to receive payment by customers’ credit and debit cards.

If you are going to start selling online you need to have each of these in place. Conveniently, most payment gateways also act as merchant processors so you don’t have to even think of the two actions as separate.

To set up a merchant account you will need to go and visit your bank of choice and go through some credit checks . There is often a set up fee for this kind of account. Once you have that set up, you need to choose a payment processor. There are plenty of options here – PayPal is the most famous – but you need to weigh up the costs of each before making a decision.

Costs you need to look out for are: The set up fee, the monthly fee, any fees per transaction, international fees and refund fees. Any of these added costs could catch you out so make sure you are well aware of what you are agreeing to. This also applies for any contract you might sign – are you completely happy with the terms?

“When you are choosing a processor consider four things,” says Hill.

“Financial, compare the commission rates and check what discounts you can get for higher volumes. Secondly user experience: look for multiple payment types / options especially if looking towards international markets for future growth, and ability to embed into your site cleanly.

“Thirdly the most important factor to consider is security and reliability but lastly you should also look at quality of reporting.”

So who are the major players you are likely to be choosing from?

PayPal: Everyone knows PayPal. It is probably the most widely used option and also the option most familiar to shoppers. There is no set up or monthly fees but a relatively high fee per transaction. If you are processing more than £1,500 a month there is a merchant rate you can apply for which is lower.

Google Checkout: You are probably already using some of Google’s services and will almost certainly need to use its analytics platform to see how your site is performing once you’ve launched. Google Checkout is another service which will help you to unify your providers across the board. It’s a simple checkout and can be convenient for customers who an use their Google profiles to log in.

WorldPay: Once-owned by RBS, WorldPay is one of the leading services in the UK. It is well-trusted but also comes with quite high prices.

Authorize.net: Despite being one of the lesser-known payment gateways to consumers, Authorize.net has got quite a large chunk of the market. It can be quite costly as it charge a set up fee as well as other monthly and per transaction fees.

SagePay: Software giant Sage’s offering is a popular one in the UK. You can use it as a payment gateway with a separate merchant processor or as both.

Offering multiple payment options

You should add as many payment options as possible. When a customer comes to pay they should be able to find a solution that suits them be it credit card, PayPal or Google Wallet. Your payment processor will have a list of payment options which they will enable you to offer.

“In an ideal world, the retailers should let the customer buy in any way they wish,” says Bradley Keenan, founder of E-tale.

“Whether this be in multiple currencies, or even platforms like PayPal and Google Wallet. Etailers often go to great expense to acquire customers, so why limit the ways in which they can buy?”