How payment choice can impact the customer experience

Offering your customers a range of ways to pay can have a positive impact on their shopping experience. Add in convenience and security, and you can be well on the way to building a loyal customer base and accelerating your growth.

So, can offering different payment types make your customers happy to shop with you? Whether you sell online, in store, or both, you should try to offer multiple payment types to meet customers' preferences. Your payment processing platform should allow you to accept:

Debit and credit cards. Card payments are pretty much a must-have for both eCommerce and in-person payments. For in-person purchases, you'll probably want to offer customers the convenience of contactless card payments, too.

Digital payments. Add more choice by enabling customers to pay using digital wallets like Apple Pay and PayPal.

eChecks. Ideal for recurring transactions like bill payments and subscriptions, eChecks also offer faster processing and deposits than traditional paper checks.

As well as giving customers choice about how they pay, look for a payment processing platform with additional features that can positively impact the payment experience. In general, most people will choose options that require them to make the least amount of effort. This so-called 'principle of least effort' is widely applied to consumer behavior. So, it's worth considering ways to:

Make things easier for returning customers. Make checkout faster and easier for returning customers by securely storing their payment information so customers don't have to re-enter their details every time they check out.

Simplify recurring billing. A great solution for subscription- and membership-based businesses—allow customers to set up their payment details once, so that they are automatically charged at the end of each billing cycle.

Avoid the hassle of expired cards. Save customers the trouble of updating their stored details when they receive a new card. Use a service that automatically updates their card-on-file to help avoid the friction and lost sales which can have a negative impact on the shopping experience.

On top of payment choice and convenience, customers also care about the security of their payment information and transactions. If they think a payment method could be risky, they may be less likely to use it—even if it can make shopping easier or checkout quicker.

Investing in secure payment systems and communicating about your security measures can help reduce perceived risk and increase customer trust. Look for a payment processor that helps you store customers' payment information in a PCI DSS-compliant manner.

You should also consider using a fraud detection solution that helps identify, manage, and prevent suspicious and potentially fraudulent transactions to give customers peace of mind and minimize the impact of fraud on your business.

Choosing Authorize.net as your payment processor positions you to offer your customers the choice, convenience, and security that helps deliver a great experience.

Pediatrician and life coach Dr. Penelope Hsu says: "Authorize.net is the primary way I take payment for my clients, so it keeps my business running. People feel comfortable and safe using it."

Our platform lets you accept the payment types customer prefer, including eChecks. It offers features like secure customer information management, recurring billing, and automatic card updates, as well as a powerful, easy-to-use solution for fraud management.