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3 Ways to Offer Your Clients Express Checkouts
27.09.2022
4 min
Every online merchant is familiar with losing a sales opportunity when the consumer was already about to pay for their order. While there are multiple reasons why this could happen, a long or complicated checkout process is one of the major decisive factors, accounting for 26% of shopping cart abandonment cases1.
Fortunately, there are ways to address this frustrating issue. Express checkout enables shoppers to make a payment in a matter of clicks instead of struggling to fill up lengthy forms. Read on to find out more about the different types of one-click transactions and learn how to implement them to boost your store’s performance!
Different Types of Express Checkout
While this is typically not noticeable for the consumers, there are key differences between the ways in which their payment data is stored to facilitate express checkout.
Below, we list the three parties that can store customer information for one-click payments and explain the pros and cons of each of them:
1. The Business
As a merchant, you can choose to keep your customers’ details in your database so that the next time they shop at your store, their data will be filled in automatically.
There are two types of consumer information you can save to facilitate express checkout:
- Shipping details. You can keep this information on the business’ platform as long as you comply with the active privacy legislation.
- Payment data. Such sensitive data gets stored with the help of tokenization that replaces it with non-sensitive equivalents - tokens. Any PCI DSS-compliant party can keep such encrypted information, be it a business or a Payment Service Provider (PSP).
The advantages of this express checkout type are:
- Simple implementation
- Extremely fast checkout in a few simple steps
- Easy integration with loyalty programs linked to the clients’ accounts or email addresses
On the other hand, the downsides of this approach are:
- Availability only to returning clients who have previously filled in all their payment details when placing their first order at your website
- The limited use of saved data - it is only stored on one specific site
All in all, this is a great option for merchants who have a lot of returning customers. If you operate in a niche where the consumers tend to make one-time purchases, it is worth considering other options for storing data.
2. The Payment Method
Another party that can store the consumers’ sensitive details is the payment method. This approach to data storage ensures faster order placement across sites, as long as the user selects the same payment option enabled with the express checkout feature. Some providers of such services include:
- PayPal
- Apple Pay
- Google Pay
- Amazon Pay
- iDEAL
- Click to Pay
All the customer has to do to initiate an express transaction is to click a payment method's logo on the checkout page and log in to their account. After that, the last step would be to confirm the payment with biometrics, a password, or another authentication option, if requested.
The pros of this type of express checkout are:
- Suitability for both new and returning clients
- Application across various sites and businesses
- Boosts consumer trust due to the familiarity with the payment method
- Synchronization with your PSP’s reporting and authentication features, if implemented through it
The cons you may encounter when using this approach include:
- More challenging integration
- Typically, a maximum of two express payment methods at checkout
- The possibility of a lower Average Transaction Value (ATV)
- The likelihood of each express payment method providing addresses in different formats
Thus, while the implementation of express payment methods only requires adding a dedicated button to your preferred pages, it’s best to limit these options to no more than two to avoid confusion. Due to this, the competition between them is fierce, and it might take time for you to select the ones that your business will benefit from the most.
3. Third-Party Solution
Finally, businesses can outsource services from companies that focus on boosting the checkout process speed.
The clients will be able to pay within just a few seconds after logging in to their account with the third-party service provider. What’s more, there are also examples when an express checkout solution enables its customers to purchase the products of partner businesses directly through its site.
The benefits of this one-click checkout type are:
- Availability for first-time and returning clients
- Improved conversions among audiences with high solution adoption rates
- Usable on a variety of websites
The downsides of third-party express payment solutions are:
- Tricky implementation and maintenance
- Higher expenses due to extra fees
- Limited integration of novel payment methods
- The need to adjust to the third party’s PSP when it comes to reconciliation and backend integration
Keep in mind that the payment features provided by a third-party checkout service can be more limited than the ones offered when integrating with a regular PSP, so it’s critical to pick the company you will collaborate with wisely.
How to Make the Most Out of Express Checkout
Every merchant’s goal is to make the clients’ shopping experience as smooth as possible, and express checkout is of great help in achieving it.
Regardless of the type of one-click payment integration you choose, make sure you follow these tips for the best results:
- Ensure the checkout page is mobile-friendly
- Avoid overcrowding the screen with too many payment features and buttons
- Stay up-to-date and compliant with all the current payment regulations
- Continuously update the payment solutions you’re using for proper performance
With these principles in mind, you are sure to minimize card abandonment instances and boost conversions!
1 - Kinsta - How to Decrease Shopping Cart Abandonment on Your Ecommerce Site