by Jeremy Nicholds, CEO of Judopay
We’re living in a mobile first age. According to GSMA, at the end of 2018, 5.1 billion people around the world subscribed to mobile services, that’s 67% of the world’s population. We’re always switched on and connected and because we’re always connected it means our consumer demands have changed.
Living in a mobile first age means exactly that; people are always on the go. The device we have in our hand or pocket decides where we eat, what train we catch and who we date. It’s not just life decisions, we make purchasing decisions as well.
Being able to make purchasing decisions through our phone is now an expectation, no longer are people amazed by the Uber experience, hailing a ride through your Uber app is seen as the norm, not a luxury.
Time spent in apps around the world has gone up 50% in the last two years. 28% of Generation Z would even give up friends and money in order to keep their mobile. Mobile is important for consumers and therefore its imperative businesses get it right. Mobile ecommerce is going to be huge. If your firm does not have a mobile app then it needs to get one or it risks falling behind. And for those companies that have an app, they need to think about how seamless their customer’s journey is.
Time spent in apps around the world has gone up 50% in the last two years. 28% of Generation Z would even give up friends and money in order to keep their mobile.
An area where many slip up on mobile is the checkout experience. The average checkout journey is 2.25 minutes with the average number of clicks being 22 therefore it’s no surprise that the worldwide cart abandonment is 69%. This high statistic comes at a high cost for merchants with many losing a significant amount in sales. Furthermore, a poor experience enforces a lack of trust in a brand, typically a customer will remember the beginning and the ending of a journey and its these two stages that businesses are getting wrong.
So how do companies solve this issue? How can mobile payments become a calm, pain-free experience for both business and consumer?
See it through your customers eyes
Transactions on the move mean there’s less room for error when it comes to mobile payments. If the process is slow and laborious people will give up and abandon their baskets. Put yourself in the customer’s shoes, they want to consume quickly and easily, they don’t want to wait or put any serious thought into the checkout process. Be clear on what information you’re seeking to collect or rather need to collect. Think about how many clicks end-to-end you need and how long a purchase typically takes on your app. Remember, time is money… literally.
Transactions on the move mean there’s less room for error when it comes to mobile payments.
Partner with a mobile first processor
We’re in a mobile first society, so work with a payments processor that understands mobile, who is digitally native and who’s technology builds for the mobile age. Not only will a payments provider that prioritises mobile guide and consult you on what your transaction journey should be, they will also make the whole experience as frictionless as possible.
Include the solutions that are out there
There are already solutions out there that can help automate payments steps such as removing select card types and manual input of addresses that all adhere to current and future guidelines. Including Apple Pay, Google Pay or other APMs can help solve a number of issues, help slim down the process and improve abandonment rates.
The reality is that mobile ecommerce is here to stay and so a good customer experience on mobile is paramount for merchants. Consumers want to consume, make sure the payments journey is a calm one.
