51% of Shoppers Put Convenience First When Choosing Payments

Payments optimization is a battleground for businesses aiming to maintain a competitive edge in the evolving digital landscape.

Achieving peak performance in payment processes requires a focus on three key pillars: choice, confidence and convenience.

The PYMNTS Intelligence report “Big Three: How Choice, Confidence and Convenience Drive Payments Optimization,” a collaboration with Worldpay, found that these attributes represent the core prerequisites for any successful payments optimization initiative and are pivotal for maximizing revenue and enhancing consumer engagement.

Even seemingly small adjustments in payment processes can yield benefits, including new customer acquisition, improved customer satisfaction and back-end cost savings. The collective expectation of shoppers for these three elements — choice in payment methods, speed and convenience of transactions and refunds, and secure environments — is influential in their decisions on where to spend their money. Excelling in just one area is no longer sufficient.

Modern consumers worldwide prioritize methods familiar to them. Ensuring customers have their preferred payment options available is a primary driver of customer loyalty.

Simultaneously, protecting customers and business interests necessitates anti-fraud measures. This focus on security is paramount for building confidence.

However, businesses must also navigate the delicate balance of security to avoid false declines of legitimate transactions, which can impact revenue and reputation.

Finally, consumers are drawn to merchants offering the most convenient and seamless transactions, making these qualities fundamental to payments optimization. This convenience extends beyond the initial purchase to encompass easy returns and refunds, which are crucial for maintaining customer trust and long-term relationships.

Key data points underscore the importance of these factors:

Seventy percent of consumers consider the availability of their preferred payment method “very or extremely influential” when choosing a merchant for online purchases.

Eighty-two percent of U.S.-based eCommerce merchants with international sales experienced cyber or data breaches in the past year.

Fifty-one percent of shoppers cite convenience as either the most or second-most important factor in selecting their preferred shopping channel.

Beyond these central tenets, the report touched on specific areas impacting payments optimization. It highlighted that offering diverse payment choices is not only important for large businesses but can also help small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) attract customers, with many young consumers viewing flexible payment options, including contactless and mobile wallets, as a draw.

There is a challenge of balancing strong security with avoiding false declines, and 18% of consumers experienced a false decline in the past year, leading many to never patronize a brand again.

The report also explored the role of perks and rewards as components of customer convenience, particularly noting the preference of young consumers like Generation Z for innovative perks such as flash sales or events delivered via app, rather than traditional cash back rewards.

Companies like Worldpay are developing solutions, such as new services for near-instant refunds, to enhance convenience and transform potential pain points into tools for driving loyalty. Minding choice, confidence and convenience is essential for businesses to successfully optimize payments and meet the expectations of modern consumers.