How Payment Features Can Help Retain Customers?

Attracting new customers is not an easy task in itself, but retaining the already existing buyers could be even more difficult. Marketers offer a variety of methods to do that – from referral programs to newsletters and promo codes. However, have you ever considered that adding some payment features can also help maintain an on-going relationship with your customers?

In order to provide a straightforward payment process, be sure to include the following aspects:

1. Provide a vast variety of payment methods. This way you will be sure that each customer will find the most suitable one for them. Keep in mind that the most versatile payment method is by card – it is available for each and every customer as long as they own a credit or debit card.
2. Show all the shipping/delivery costs early in the process. Customers will appreciate that there are no hidden fees, and it will also help to cut the number of abandoned carts.
3. Clearly indicate all the essential information such as the order ID, delivery times and fees, terms and conditions, etc.

However, these are only the basics. A more advanced way of increasing customer retention is by adding some additional payment features.

Recurring payments

Recurring or subscription payments are becoming widely popular among e-commerce businesses. It basically is what it says on the tin – payments that “re-occur”. Usually, this payment feature is used for subscription or membership-based businesses which need to charge their customers on a periodic basis, e.g. monthly, daily, yearly, etc. However, other e-commerce businesses have begun to adopt this payment feature as well for its various benefits.

Firstly, it guarantees a stable profit for the business. Business owners are able to know and calculate how many recurring payments they have each month and, therefore, know their approximate sales volumes.

Also, this payment feature provides an easy way of shopping for customers. For example, if they are able to get a subscription box of their favourite beauty products each month without going to a shop or even making the payment, they will most likely enjoy the experience and remain a customer for a longer period of time.

In order to have a better understanding of recurring payments, take a look at the step-by-step process:

• The buyer orders a product/service subscription and agrees to activate recurring payments.
• When making the first order, the customer has to enter all of the necessary credit/debit card data just like making a regular payment. However, you will not need to save this information.
• Once the first payment is processed, your system will save the payment ID.
• Cardinity payment system will continue to make further charges automatically using the payment ID. Your customers will not need to return to your website and pay every week/month/year. So, you only need to make sure your product/service reaches the customer.

It is important to emphasize that the business owners have to keep in mind that the subscription or membership has to be easy to manage. Always leave the option to pause or cancel the subscription/membership.

To conclude, if you have an e-shop and are looking for new ways to boost customer retention, adding a recurring payment feature may be a way to go. Every online business can benefit from it – you just need a bit of creativity to incorporate it into your e-store. When searching for a payment service provider which can offer such services, take a look at Cardinity. We offer a recurring payment feature which can be adapted to your businesses needs for free!

Click to find more information on how to use recurring payments.