Retailer Experience – How Payment Service Providers Make Merchants’ Lives Easier
To ensure a positive customer experience, merchants need to have seamless processes – especially when it comes to payment. How can payment service providers (PSPs) support companies? And which factors play an important role in a successful partnership between merchant and PSP?
Merchants pay particular attention to the customer experience. And that’s a good thing because it significantly influences the customers’ decision to buy. But merchants can only provide the best customer experience when all their company processes run seamlessly. That also applies to the collaboration with partner companies, suppliers, and payment service providers, as well as other external partners for logistics, technical support, accounting, and many more areas.
Any partnership with external service providers is a balancing act for companies. Outsourcing can work well – but it can also lead to problems if the processes don’t run as planned. This makes it even more important for merchants to not only focus on the customer experience but also to consider their own experiences with external partners. They should pay more attention to the “retailer experience”.
Payment Is a Key Factor in Conversions
The reason: The payment process is still a key factor in whether the conversion rate increases or decreases. Today, merchants need to offer a wide range of payment methods. Their customers demand nothing less. Moreover, payments need to be simple and secure to make the customer experience as enjoyable as possible. For many merchants, it’s a challenge to fulfil these demands in payment – which is a crucial reason to collaborate with a PSP.
Reasons to Collaborate with a Payment Service Provider
The reasons are easy to see. Payment service providers possess the necessary expertise in payment processes. They not only help companies to choose the right payment methods, but they also provide implementation support and evaluate ongoing payment processes. Ideally, a PSP should provide an all-in-one solution for all processes connecting to processing payments. This means that merchants only need one contact for all their payment questions, which significantly simplifies internal processes. In addition, merchants can reduce their costs in several ways by working with a PSP. They don’t need to hire new employees to handle payments or create new teams and invest in their development. Payment service providers also have more influence in the market and are therefore able to negotiate better conditions with third parties.
There are many benefits of working with a payment service provider, and they enable merchants to devote their full attention to their core business. They can leave payment tot he experts. However, the partnership doesn’t always work as intended. Depending on the PSP, the retailer experience might be neglected. And this can quickly have a negative effect on the customer experience. Merchants should therefore pay attention to the retailer experience when choosing a PSP. But what does that mean exactly?
Factors for a Good Retailer Experience When Working with a PSP
When choosing any external service provider, the same procedure applies: Make a shortlist of providers, compare them, negotiate terms, sign contracts, and then monitor the quality of the service. With payment service providers, it’s no different. However, by considering a few factors before making a decision, merchants can avoid unwanted surprises.
1. Quick and easy onboarding
A good partnership hinges on the onboarding process. It needs to be as simple and fast as possible. Merchants should make sure that their questions are answered quickly and communication runs smoothly.
2. All-in-one solution and white label options
As mentioned previously, your payment service provider should ideally offer all-in-one solutions. They offer the most possibilities with the least effort. At the same time, merchants should choose a PSP that offers white label solutions. That allows them to design the payment process in their own branding and offer a consistent customer experience.
3. Extensive customisation options
Payment solution providers should offer a wide range of options for customising the payment offering. Only in this way can merchants tailor payment methods to their customers’ needs. In addition, it should be quick and easy to add or remove different payment methods.
4. Intuitive backend
In order for merchants to benefit from using all information available to them, an intuitive backend is a must. The backend should connect all interfaces and provide data on the use of each payment method.
5. Fraud prevention and expert support
Online payments come with certain risks – for merchants as well as customers. No matter whether customers pay by credit card, invoice, direct debit, PayPal, instalments, or by another payment method, effective fraud prevention is essential in today’s world. It protects customers as well as the business itself. Payment service providers should offer rapid, expert support to quickly resolve any technical disruption and answer queries when needed. This is essential for a successful partnership with a payment service provider.
Summary
To give customers the best experience, merchants themselves need the best retailer experience. Especially when it comes to payment, merchants should have access to professional support to ensure that all processes run seamlessly. We can help you implement the right payment solutions and offer your customers innovative payment options.