The Online Payment Process

Part Nine - Guide to Increasing Online Sales

Now we come to the step along the online purchasing process which is probably responsible for more lost sales than any other. You might have a web site which is perfect in every other from an optimized for sales standpoint and still not be enjoying the level of success that you should. More than likely it's the payment process which is causing the bottom to fall out of your online sales figures.

Think again about how purchases are made in the offline world. You walk into a store; find something that you like, what a few minutes in a checkout line and pay for the product, usually with cash or credit card. The payment process in this scenario is quite simple and effortless. It's designed to be effortless. Now think about how payments are made online, either on your won web site or in general.

You might have been told or otherwise under the impression that the payment stage of the online purchase is the perfect time to collect data about your customers. Wrong! This couldn't be any more untrue. The last things that you want to do is make the payment process complicated for your customers.. You don't want to be asking for emails addresses and other details at this stage.

All anyone wants to do is pay for the product that they have decided to purchase, they don't want to spend time filling out forms or ticking off boxes. How much information do your really need to collect to fulfill an order. Maybe name, address, phone and email, nothing more. The payment stage isn't the time to be asking customers to subscribe to a newsletter or answer a questionnaire or register for a membership.

There are thousands of versions of shopping cart scripts floating around the internet today. Many, if not most, web developers are using one form or another of these shopping carts scripts to offer a payment component to their client's web sites. These open source or public domain scripts essentially use the same payment routine. This involves a payment process which includes a web site visitor being obligated to fill out a registration or membership form before being able to make a purchase. A web site visitor can add to an online shopping cart, view the products in the cart, delete products and then make a final purchase or checkout. Unfortunately if a web visitor hasn't already registered at this point they will be required to do so before making a purchase. This requirement is undoubtedly responsible for more lost sales than can be calculated. We call this "shopping cart abandonment".

The payment process must be kept simple and uncomplicated. A customer should never be required to fill out a lengthy form in order to make a purchase. Imagine having to fill out a form every time you went to the grocery store to buy milk. Even something as seemingly simple as a login form can be a nuisance. Take these steps and requirements right out of the payment process and only ask for information which is required to fulfill and order, nothing more and nothing less.

Ideally, you want the payment process online to be simpler and easier than the offline world, You want a customer to feel thankful for not having to wait in a checkout line or deal with obnoxious children, pushy salesmen or fighting to find a parking space. How can your payment process be made simpler and more effective? What steps or requirement can be removed from your online payment process without affecting fulfillment? Answer these questions and act on them and you will undoubtedly see an improvement in your online sales.


Part One - Introduction to Online Sales
Part Two - Web Site Usability
Part Three - Defining Calls to Action
Part Four - Optimizing Sales Copy
Part Five - Online Purchasing Behaviors
Part Six - Price Comparison Behavior
Part Seven - Building Online Trust
Part Eight - Understanding Conversion Rates
Part Nine - The Payment Process
Part Ten - After The Sale


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