Online sales this Christmas – how to make it work for you?

Already experts are predicting this Christmas will be fantastic for online sales and whilst we can all be very upbeat about it, the reality will only be seen once consumers begin that festive shopping in earnest.

IMRG (Interactive Media in Retail Group) has said it expects £4.6bn to be spent online in the weeks beginning December 3 and December 10. And in its Adobe Digital Index 2012 Online Shopping Forecast, Adobe predicts a three-week shopping spree across Europe that will start on November 26 and produce an immediate 25% lift to daily sales.

From a payments perspective, this will of course put pressure on payments systems but they are very much up to the demanding task.

Christmas can be a stressful time for consumers, so avoid making it worse for them by complicating the process. Here are some ways of helping to ensure that processes do work and secure that all important revenue this Christmas:

1. Make sure you have alternative payment methods in place, to make it easier for the customer to pay in their chosen way

You should provide more payment options, allowing consumers to pay in a way that is most convenient to them, whether it be bank transfer, mobile payment, or via a credit card etc. If you give the consumer some leeway in the way they pay then you will have less cart abandonment and more completed transactions.

2. Make sure your site is usable by international customers

Providing a localised currency is a good way of letting customers know that you cater for all types from anywhere in the world. Technology today can easily find a location and therefore a means of payment in your preferred payment type, currency and language.

3. Provide your customers with a payment processor they can trust to ensure purchase completion

In today’s fast and furious online buying market, security and trust will play a large part in completing the transactions. It is not enough to say that you have a secure payments process,process; it must also look like it.

We can make sure that you and your customers have a good Christmas this year. Don’t hesitate,hesitate; click here for more information about how we can secure your payments this Christmas and beyond.