A CHASE PAYMENTECH WHITEPAPER. Building customer loyalty in a multi-channel world Creating an optimised approach for e-tailers

Transcription

1 A CHASE PAYMENTECH WHITEPAPER Building customer loyalty in a multi-channel world Creating an optimised approach for e-tailers

2 Table Of Contents Changing shopping habits... 3 The multi-channel journey... 3 High customer expectations... 3 Know your multi-channel customer... 4 Provide a consistent online experience Encourage customers to return... 6 About Chase Paymentech chasepaymentech.co.uk 2012, Chase Paymentech Europe Limited. All rights reserved.

3 Over half of consumers in the UK own a smartphone 1 enabling shoppers to research, browse, compare prices and make payments whenever and wherever they like. Today, consumers are empowered with many mobile sites and apps at their fingertips that they can combine with online and in-store channels to create a unique and personalised customer journey. To convert a multi-channel shopper into a loyal customer, merchants need to deliver a consistent customer experience across every channel. Changing shopping habits According to a recent survey conducted by Chase Paymentech 2, nearly two thirds of UK consumers have changed their shopping habits in the past 12 months. E-commerce is still growing in popularity, with 41 per cent of consumers saying that they use the internet to make purchases more than they did a year ago. The same report states that among those aged 18-24, the rate is even higher. Approximately 60 per cent of this age group use the internet for shopping more than they did last year, and approximately 30 per cent make more mobile purchases than last year. The report suggests that m-commerce is quickly becoming an established channel with 30 per cent of those aged already finding their mobile to be the easiest way to shop. These changes in consumer behaviour are reflected in the impressive growth of m-commerce across Europe. The Centre of Retail Research is predicting sales from mobile devices to grow by 510 per cent over the next two years, with UK consumers expected to spend the most in 2012 ( 5.4 billion) followed by consumers in Germany ( 3.2 billion) and France ( 2.2 billion) 3. The multi-channel journey With a growing number of consumers using their laptops and mobile devices to shop, we can expect shoppers to frequently switch between channels. While many shoppers find it convenient to start their shopping journey on their computer or mobile phone, they may often prefer to use another channel to research, buy and collect their purchase. Forrester Consulting 4 confirmed that while most multichannel shoppers will choose to start their research online using a search engine, this doesn t mean that they will complete their purchase using the same channel. Multichannel shoppers are just as likely to buy in-store as they are to buy using their computer or mobile device. Some prefer to do their research online but buy offline (42 per cent), others would rather go into a store or test out products before buying online (35 per cent), while a smaller number use their mobile phone to research products before buying on their computer (8 per cent). This presents both an opportunity and a threat for e-commerce retailers at a time when many consumers are still forming their mobile shopping habits. Pure-play merchants and multi-channel retailers alike need to find ways to differentiate their offering from high street competitors by offering a consistent and seamless online and mobile shopping experience. High customer expectations From the multi-channel customer s point of view, using a mobile site or app should be just as easy as visiting an e-commerce site or walking into a store. In a revealing poll of mobile consumers undertaken by Harris Interactive on behalf of Tealeaf 5, more than half of those questioned said they expect their shopping experience on a mobile phone to be better than shopping in-store (51 per cent) or using a desktop computer (52 per cent). 2012, Chase Paymentech Europe Limited. All rights reserved. chasepaymentech.co.uk 3

4 Over the next two years sales from European 3 mobile devices predicted to grow by Nearly two thirds of UK consumers have changed their 2 shopping habits in the past 12 months 510% Dislike 64% Nearly half of dissatisfied customers would go on to 6 share their bad experience through social media In fact, it appears that consumers are no longer seeing a distinction between online, web mobile and apps at all. Instead they tend to see these e-tail channels as a single online experience. This means that if they have a problem making a mobile purchase, they will often abandon the transaction and leave the site rather than find an alternative channel with the same retailer, resulting in lost sales and revenue for that merchant. Not only are mobile consumers quick to abandon a transaction, but they are also likely to tell others about their poor experience. The same Harris survey found that when mobile consumers have a problem, 29 per cent would try later on a computer, 17 per cent would complain to customer service and 13 per cent would try a competitor s app or site 6. Even worse, nearly half of dissatisfied customers would go on to share their experience through social media and even more (61 per cent) would discourage their friends and family from either using that website or app or doing business with the same retailer. Know your multi-channel customer With multi-channel consumers already expecting a seamless customer experience across all e-tail channels, it is perhaps surprising that an estimated 25 per cent of annual online revenue is lost as a result of poor user experience which leads to site abandonment; that s the equivalent of 14 billion lost in the UK every year 7. This is according to a survey of e-commerce and e-business professionals conducted by econsultancy. It found that only four per cent of companies surveyed said that they had an excellent understanding of their customers overall e-commerce experience. In fact, just a few companies said they had a good understanding of the reasons why people leave a site without converting (15 per cent) or why their customers abandoned their shopping cart or checkout (23 per cent). When asked about the issues commonly encountered by their customers online, payment problems were mentioned by one quarter of the retailers surveyed. In order to improve the customer experience, retailers need to understand their customers multichannel journey and how different channels are helping or hindering customers with their decision-making and ultimate purchase. Gaining greater insight into how your consumers would like to engage with your brand across multiple e-tail channels will help to enable you to spot and resolve any issues with the customer experience, including the payment experience, in order to help take action that will convert more site visits into fulfilled sales. Can you identify the individual customer journeys? Encourage your customers to register their details using an online account. This makes it possible to capture and link interactions with your brand to individual consumers and follow them as they move between channels. Such a single customer view offers valuable insight into customer behaviour. Tools such as web analytics, search results, customer order history and social media information may also be useful. Are your key performance indicators relevant? Analyse every stage of the customer journey and set 4 chasepaymentech.co.uk 2012, Chase Paymentech Europe Limited. All rights reserved.

5 KPIs and e-commerce objectives based on the specific requirements of your business and customer needs. For example, integrating reports on fraud rates, card declines and chargebacks into your business intelligence system can help to identify and minimise payment issues. Are you able to analyse fraud rates by channel? As a customer journey becomes more multi-channel, the potential for fraud can increase. Identify fraud patterns and new threats by tracking fraud rates for each channel. With more than one in three consumers in Chase Paymentech s survey saying that using a smartphone to shop should be made safer 8, make sure your fraud prevention methods work as well on your mobile site as they do on your e-commerce site. Work with your payment acquirer to identify issues that might affect your customers online experience. At Chase Paymentech, we conduct quarterly business reviews with merchants to help them analyse KPIs and assess the factors that are having an impact on cart conversion rates. We also enable our clients to import data from a choice of 55 online payment reports into their business intelligence system to provide information on settlements, declined authorisations, chargebacks and fraud rates. Provide a consistent online experience Despite more consumers wanting to use their mobile phones and tablets as part of their shopping experience, a recent benchmarking study of the UK s top 10 online retailers 9 demonstrated that most customers still find it easier to use an e-commerce site than a mobile website or app. This study showed that across these three e-tail channels, the checkout stage was regarded as one of the weakest areas of the shopping experience. How easy is your online journey from start to finish? Consider every stage of the customer experience from first impression through to purchase and payment to discover where customers may struggle. Bad navigation and poor product search can be two common problems encountered by customers, so pay particular attention to navigation, search and filtering options. Do your online channels offer a consistent experience? Because multi-channel shoppers regard e-commerce and m-commerce channels as part of a single experience, ensure that your website, mobile web and app have the same branding and offer a similar layout, information and features. Detailed product descriptions, high-quality images, zoom features and video (especially on tablet devices) are becoming increasingly important, to increase customer engagement. Is your checkout process optimised? In the Chase Paymentech survey, one in four consumers said they found it too difficult to enter payment details on their mobile phone 10, illustrating how some checkout processes can be frustrating to complete using a smartphone. Keeping the mandatory information required to make a purchase on a mobile phone to a minimum, for example offering customers the choice of registering an account at a later date from a computer rather than on their phone, may help improve the customer experience at checkout. However, it is notable that the two brands that topped the same survey were both pure-play merchants. This suggests that innovative brands that offer a consistent online customer experience are well prepared to build customer loyalty in the multi-channel world. So, how can more retailers offer a customer experience that makes shopping online easier than buying in-store? E-commerce merchants may consider offering a simple, easy-to-use, fast and information-rich experience that is consistent across every channel and ensures a frustrationfree payment experience every time. 2012, Chase Paymentech Europe Limited. All rights reserved. chasepaymentech.co.uk 5

6 More than half of those questioned said they expect their shopping experience on a mobile phone to be better than shopping in-store (51 per cent) or using 5 a desktop computer (52 per cent) We offer merchants real-time automated fraud screening, which provides a fraud score with each payment transaction to indicate the level of risk VS Store 30 % Our innovative customer-not-present (CNP) solutions have been shown to improve authorisation 11 rates by up to 30 per cent At Chase Paymentech, we provide payment and acquiring solutions for merchants and have helped some of the world s leading e-commerce merchants get to where they are today. Our innovative customer-notpresent (CNP) solutions have been shown to improve authorisation rates by up to 30 per cent 11. We understand that every merchant has different requirements and our dedicated relationship managers offer their valued expertise to help you develop payment strategies that improve cart conversion. We also offer merchants realtime automated fraud screening, which provides a fraud score with each payment transaction to indicate the level of risk without adversely affecting your customers experience. use an app for repeat purchases. Those retailers that use innovative and highly relevant features within their mobile website or app are more likely to provide real value and offer an online multi-channel experience that may help improve customer retention. When thinking about how to encourage customers to return, look for opportunities to provide a unique offering with short, safe and convenient journeys. Ultimately this can lead to greater customer satisfaction and loyalty. So, what steps should online retailers consider when aiming to enhance their customers online experience and build greater loyalty in a multi-channel world? Encourage customers to return Ultimately, shopping by mobile or another online channel should be as easy as going to a physical store. Nobody expects a customer to type in their card number, CVV security code, expiry date and billing address every time they buy something in a high street shop. Online merchants looking to build customer loyalty should aspire to the same level of ease for their customers. There has been much debate about the use of mobile sites versus apps and it appears that both channels have a role to play in improving the online customer experience. First-time shoppers are more likely to use a mobile site as a shop window while loyal customers already engaged with a brand might find it easier to Identify your customers across every channel Make sure that customers are acknowledged and recognised at every point and that you personalise your customers experience based on their preferences, purchasing history and behaviour. Enable choices made by the customer through one channel to be stored and made available from other devices to help maximise cart conversion, for example allow users to add something to their cart using their mobile phone but checkout through their computer. Simplify your checkout process As part of an optimised payments strategy, use stored account and card details to keep the information required from a returning customer to a minimum. Consider 6 chasepaymentech.co.uk 2012, Chase Paymentech Europe Limited. All rights reserved.

7 alternative methods of payment to offer customers more choice and put measures in place to avoid recurring payments being declined. Reassure your customers about data security Many customers have concerns about making transactions through their mobile phone. Ensure a seamless transition from your e-commerce or m-commerce site to your payment site to reassure customers about security. Consider alternative strategies for data security, such as tokenisation, that do not require the storage of cardholder details on your internal systems. Chase Paymentech offers advanced solutions to help merchants improve cart conversion. For example, our Account Updater product provides merchants with updated card information to help prevent declines on recurring payments, such as annual membership fees and subscriptions, being disrupted when a card expires or a customer changes their card brand. We also offer merchants a range of innovative fraud and data security solutions tailored to your business needs that help you to offer your customers an improved shopping experience while safeguarding their cardholder data and adhering to your PCI DSS obligations. advocacy that creates quantifiable value for companies of all sizes. In 2011, Chase Paymentech processed more than 24 billion transactions with a value exceeding $553.6 billion, including an estimated half of all global Internet transactions. In addition to the ability to authorise transactions in more than 130 currencies, the company provides business analytics and information services, fraud detection and data security solutions. Disclaimer Some information used in this report has been obtained from third parties, including research providers, believed to be reliable but Chase Paymentech or its affiliates do not warrant its completeness or accuracy. Opinions and estimates constitute our judgment as of the date of this material and are subject to change without notice. Past performance is not indicative of future results. This material is not intended as an offer or solicitation for the purchase or sale of any Chase Paymentech products. The opinions and recommendations herein do not take into account individual client circumstances, objectives, or needs and are not intended as recommendations of particular products or strategies to particular clients. The recipient of this report must make its own independent decisions regarding any products mentioned herein. This document and the information provided herein may not be copied, published, or used, in whole or in part, for any purpose other than expressly authorised by Chase Paymentech Europe Limited. Is your payment strategy aligned to a multi-channel world? For over 25 years, Chase Paymentech has worked with online merchants of all sizes, taking a holistic approach to their payment strategy. Our executive management team have extensive experience as many of them were previously executives from within the online merchant community. We offer advice on the increasingly complex and challenging decisions faced by online retailers. We also assist international retailers with different payment methods, currencies and connection methods to help reach a greater shopping audience About Chase Paymentech Chase Paymentech, a subsidiary of JPMorgan Chase (JPMC), is a leading provider of payment processing and merchant acquiring. Chase Paymentech s proprietary platforms enable integrated solutions for all payment types, including credit, debit, alternative and mobile payment options. Chase Paymentech has uniquely combined proven payment technology with a long legacy of merchant For more information, contact: UK: or Rest of Europe: , or visit REFERENCES 1 edigitalresearch/imrg: ecustomerserviceindex (ecsi) (February 2012) 2,8 &10 Dynamic Markets: The Changing CNP Payment Landscape (March 2012) 3 Centre for Retail Research/Kelkoo: Online Trends 2012, mobile ecommerce (April 2012) 4 Forrester Consulting: The Future of Retail and Tomorrow s Consumer (June 2011) 5 & 6 Harris Interactive/Tealeaf: Improving the Customer Experience for Mobile Consumers (February 2011) 7 E-Consultancy/Tealeaf: Reducing Online Customer Struggle (August 2011) 9 edigitalresearch: echannel Retail Benchmark Study (February 2012) 11 Chase Paymentech: Proprietary research 2012, Chase Paymentech Europe Limited. All rights reserved. chasepaymentech.co.uk 7

8 Chase Paymentech Europe Limited, trading as Chase Paymentech, is a subsidiary of JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. (JPMC) and is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland. 2012, Chase Paymentech Europe Limited. All rights reserved.