How your payments integration can impact customer satisfaction

When you provide a B2B solution that helps your clients grow their businesses, your business can grow as well. That’s what makes payments integration partnerships so essential to ISVs. You may have assumed that integrating payments is only tied to operational efficiency. However, it’s also key to customer satisfaction, which is one of your clients’ top priorities – if not the top priority. Sitel Group research found that 94 percent of consumers say customer experiences influence their purchasing decisions, and 58 percent say it’s a factor when choosing one brand over another. Furthermore, about one-third of consumers in the US and UK say they considered ending their relationships with a brand due to a bad experience. The proper payments integration will optimize processes and interactions and result in greater customer satisfaction and, ultimately, business growth.

Consider how these payment features impact CX:

• Full commerce payments
  Buy online pay in-store (BOPIS) has grown in popularity over the past few years, but adoption accelerated during pandemic shutdowns. Consumers found they could browse, place orders and pay online, then pick up their purchases in the store or curbside to maintain social distance. However, disparate payment solutions stand in the way of seamless shopping experiences that begin on one channel and end on another.

  A full commerce payment solution provides visibility to managers and staff, confirming payment and, when necessary, making returns and refunds easier. A survey by Doddle, an international e-commerce solutions provider, found that 84 percent of consumers say a positive returns experience is an encouragement to shop with the brand again – and 74 percent say US retailers need to improve returns experiences. Full commerce payments allow merchants to meet consumers’ high expectations for returns and consistent experiences across channels

• Contactless card payments
  Contactless payments saw a significant increase in use during the pandemic. For example, Mastercard reported 40 percent more contactless payments in Q1 2020. Moreover, NMI’s Cost of Cleanliness Survey found that 43 percent of consumers consider contactless payments as essential during the pandemic and avoid shopping with retailers that don’t offer them.

  Once so many more consumers had tried contactless payments, they discovered how easy tap-and-go payments are and continued to choose this payment method. Payments integration with a platform that supports contactless payments will allow you to offer your clients the ability to meet this demand.

• Mobile wallet payments
  Mobile wallets are another option for contactless payments. Instead of using a contactless payment card, consumers open Apple Pay, Google Pay or another mobile wallet app on their smartphones and tap or wave the phone near the card reader. While using a mobile wallet adds a step to a contactless card-present payment transaction, consumers may prefer the payment type overall. A mobile wallet is an easy way for consumers to pay when making purchases via their smartphones, which is trending. eMarketer predicts that mobile e-commerce could total 73 percent of all e-commerce sales.

  Merchants who recognize these trends and accept mobile wallet payments can help their customers manage payments on different platforms from one app – and increase customer satisfaction.

• QR code payments
  Another payment type that merchants can offer to enhance customer satisfaction with the payment experiences is QR code payment. With this payment method, consumers scan a merchant’s QR code embedded with a link that takes them to a payment page or pay within an app. This option also enables the contactless, convenient payment convenience that consumers demand, whether settling a restaurant check by scanning a code on a receipt, making a charitable donation, or paying at a retail checkout.

Payments Integration: Choose Wisely

ISVs and software developers can only deliver these capabilities by partnering with a company that has developed a comprehensive full commerce payments platform. Although the right partner can simplify payments integration, it still takes time and effort – and you want the most from your investment.

Choose a payments integration that provides the operational efficiency your users need and the features that will help them increase customer satisfaction. It can improve their bottom line – and yours.