If you want your business to succeed and scale, then you need to make sure you're aligned with what your potential customers actually want. If you're not sure what that is exactly, then we can help. In partnership with YouGov, we surveyed more than 8,500 payers worldwide, including over 2,600 from across the UK, to find out what people care about when it comes to the final step in the purchasing process - the payment.
How to tailor payments to your desired customers
You are operating in a time when most people are overwhelmed with choice and the decision of who to buy from comes down to the small details - so a one-size-fits-all approach isn't going to cut it. Instead, you need to approach your checkout in the same way you would a marketing or advertising campaign - by tailoring it to the demographics you want to reach.
Our survey revealed that there are three key factors that payers care about most when choosing their preferred payment method:
- The security and privacy of their data
- How easy a payment method is to use
- How quickly funds will leave their account
This sounds straightforward, but what someone perceives to be secure and easy to use can differ based on their age, country and the type of purchase they're making.
One place to start is considering your business model. Survey results showed that when it comes to invoices, bank payments are by far the most preferred way to pay - chosen by over half of all business payers and a quarter of consumers. But e-commerce purchases are entirely different, with the top three preferred ways to pay being:
- Credit Card at 26%
- Digital wallet at 25%
- Debit card at 22%
Saving money now will cost you later
Currently, a high proportion of businesses are still asking people to use older, offline ways of making a payment. Over a third still accept cheques and a further 41% are requesting customers pay in cash. Not only do these methods waste time and money on manual admin, but they don't align with the increasingly digital world that we live in today where 93% of people in the UK use online banking.
The survey also found there’s a direct correlation between the size of a business and the willingness to invest in payment infrastructure, which we understand may be because of the upfront resources required to adapt and evolve. However, if you fail to acknowledge what your customers want now - why should they stay loyal to you in the future?
If this sounds like your business, then it's probably time to review your payment strategy. All of the survey results are available for you to read in the free Demystifying Payer Experience Report. It includes detailed insights on:
- How to leverage the top-ranked payment methods by consumers and businesses
- Key checkout considerations that can help you to win more customers
- What drives payers to try new ways of paying
- Where your peers and competitors are planning to invest over the next two years
About GoCardless
GoCardless is a global leader in direct bank payments. We help more than 75,000 businesses, from start-ups to household names, collect both recurring and one-off payments, without the chasing, stress or expensive fees. Each year GoCardless processes more than US$30 billion of payments across 30+ countries. We are headquartered in the UK, with additional offices in Australia, France, Latvia and the United States.
