Case Study: How an eCommerce Business Improved Their Customers’ Experience by Choosing the Right Payment Gateway

As businesses grow, they need to scale their payment gateway to provide a secure and frictionless experience. While some companies may prefer to invoice customers to reduce card transaction fees, this doesn’t always yield the best business outcomes. According to GOV.UK, “£23.4 billion worth of late invoices are owed to firms across Britain, impacting on businesses’ cash flow and ultimate survival.” The average invoice time is 30 days. However, the average payment time in the UK sits at 65 to 70 days because customers “push their luck”, paying as late as possible.

Businesses can improve their payment experience by accepting multiple payment methods on their website, over the phone or through a link. Additionally, companies should regularly review their payment gateway, ensuring it is consistent and professional to increase customer retention.

In this case study, we highlight how PayAlly’s payment gateway solution helped reduce the number of drop-offs on our client’s payment page, enhancing their customers’ overall experience.

Client Profile

Our client, a fast-growing e-commerce company, regularly ran pay-to-enter prize draws or raffles on its competition website, attracting tens of thousands of visitors weekly. Customers bought tickets to enter a raffle for a car, electronic or other rewards. Entrants must submit an answer to a question to introduce the draw. The company was an established business with in-house stock, giving it greater autonomy and resilience in a competitive sector.

Client Challenge

Although the client’s website had a strong domain authority, the drop-out rate on the payment gateway page hovered around 60%. While this figure was below the average cart abandonment of 70%, it indicated the majority of visitors were adding tickets to their baskets before abandoning their carts. The client was losing sales and wanted to understand why so many visitors failed to purchase a ticket, especially after taking time to enter their details and answer a skill-based question.

How PayAlly Helped

After reviewing the client’s website, PayAlly identified areas of improvement, mainly the payment gateway, which was inconsistent with the branding of the site. Consistent branding and logos increase retention rates because customers feel more comfortable entering their card details. After conducting a review, we found:

• The payment gateway looked unprofessional and displayed unbranded colours and text.
• The overall experience of the payment page was disjointed and lacked design elements that instil trust, such as a Visa Badge or other safety certificates to show shopping is secured.

Following these findings, PayAlly built what the payment page would look like with our payment gateway solution. The page used the website’s logo and brand colours to create a sleek payment journey. We demoed the page to the customer and made further improvements before going live on the website.

Metrics

After improving the client’s payment experience, the drop-out rate dropped to around 35% to 40%. On average, a good drop-off rate is 26% to 40%. As a result, their sales also increased considerably.

Competition websites tend to see two spikes. One is when they launch the competition, and one is in the final days before it closes. An improvement of circa 20% in the drop-out rate will increase sales significantly. Improving the client’s site security and payment options increased customer trust and retention.

Client Benefits

PayAlly’s bespoke offering ensures clients get the most out of our payment gateway solution. For instance, if a customer uses a certain card type more than others, we can tailor rates, lowering costs depending on card usage. Our strategy focuses on UK-based companies selling via e-commerce solutions. Whether clients need to take a payment from a customer, supplier or partner, our Relationship Managers provide the tools and solutions to achieve business goals and enhance services.