PYMNTS Intelligence: Streamlining Checkout Offers a Competitive Edge

The checkout is an influential part of the shopping experience, with 73% of consumers saying they will move their business elsewhere when a brand does not deliver the experience they expect. More businesses are realizing the potential to modernize and drive increased customer loyalty with a digital-driven approach.

While the emphasis in digitization has been on expanding consumer choice, merchants would be well-advised to remember that sometimes less can be more — especially when it comes to reducing checkout friction. To avoid merely cluttering the checkout, retailers must do their homework to ensure that the choices they offer add real value, both for themselves and for the customer experience.

Key checkout features can reduce friction while driving customer satisfaction.

Certain checkout features not only are essential to customer satisfaction but also can help create a streamlined, less friction-filled checkout journey. PYMNTS data demonstrates that among the online checkout features that drive the highest customer satisfaction are the availability of a mobile app, an easily navigable cart, the ability to securely store account data and the ability to use a preferred payment method.

The right selection of payment options can boost the checkout experience.

Adding digital features to make the checkout experience faster and frictionless has helped retailers achieve eCommerce success, but getting the features just right can drive customer loyalty in powerful ways. Rather than simply expanding options, providing customers’ preferred payment options at the online point of sale is critical in optimizing each transaction. Debit and credit cards still lead the way, used by 71% of shoppers, but digital wallets, at 17%, and buy now, pay later (BNPL) and Apple Pay, each at 2%, are gaining in popularity. Offering these preferred choices can make a substantial difference in customer satisfaction, which fell 10% among consumers who wanted flexible payment options but shopped at a merchant that did not provide them.

Payment options are a must, but too many could cause friction.

Clearly, new payment options are becoming must-haves, but context is important. PYMNTS research, for example, found that 56% of consumers were highly interested in using BNPL options at luxury and specialty online stores. The same study, however, found that this interest dropped for shoppers at other locations, with only 35% of shoppers at big-box stores and 37% at local businesses showing high interest in leveraging BNPL.

Another study advised merchants to expand payment options judiciously, recommending that they concentrate their efforts on providing only those methods that are the most popular and will deliver cost efficiencies. This approach works equally well to avoid bombarding their customers with additional friction at the checkout.