More than half of shoppers are reducing their discretionary spending and prioritizing affordability due to current economic pressures. 
Shifting consumer preferences offer businesses the opportunity to optimize their payment solutions, attracting and retaining customers. 
By investing in a full suite of integrated payment solutions, businesses can become more agile and improve the buying experience for customers. 

High inflation rates have made everything more expensive — and both large businesses and consumers are feeling the impact. According to a Forrester Consulting survey commissioned by PayPal, 54% of customers are reducing their discretionary spending, and 60% say that affordability is their most important priority.1

As merchants rethink their growth strategy and adjust to this economic landscape, it's essential to align investments with changing consumer priorities. With consumers scrutinizing every purchase closely, a poor checkout experience can easily lead to cart abandonment. In fact, with 63%1 of consumers considering an optimized checkout experience to be important, the need to offer a smooth purchase process is more critical than ever. Yet many businesses are using multiple payment providers which operate independently, resulting in poor user experiences. Instead, using one platform that's aimed at the goal of providing customers the seamless experience they desire can help improve your business' revenue goals.

Below are four key factors to consider when prioritizing tech stack integration to streamline end-to-end experiences for customers, while reducing costs and driving growth for merchants.  

Leverage data to understand your customers and attract new ones

Partnering with a global network payment provider fueled by deep data intelligence can equip businesses with the real-time, actionable insights they need to find and target new customers effectively. And with many businesses offering similar products and services, such insights are key in the competition for market share and consumer attention.

Through effective targeting, businesses can help customers discover their product or service by showing up where they already are, like on social media platforms. With 50% of consumers saying incentives and deals are important to them,1 merchants can benefit greatly from offering discounts.

Understanding what shoppers want — and engaging with them across various platforms globally — can help merchants reach customers through authentic and personalized connections.

Flexible technology that grows with your business and puts you in control

The right payment solution can also help boost a business' omnichannel approach, with a familiar customer experience across every interaction — from in-store and e-commerce to third-party marketplaces, social shopping, and brand apps— using open and flexible technology to adapt to customer demands or market changes with agility. Payment tech also supports integrations that enable businesses to view all their data in one place, even if they rely on multiple vendors throughout the checkout process.

Quick Tip: Watch the video below to see how an integrated payments platform can help you strengthen your payments ecosystem and drive revenue.  

 

How an end-to-end payments solution saves businesses money with frictionless checkout

It's easy to lose a customer as they move through the purchase process — 64% of customers say they might not or would not purchase from a brand if it doesn't offer a checkout experience that's fast, secure, and clearly presents all payment options and final costs.1   

The right payment solution, one that supports end-to-end processing, is critical to driving a positive checkout experience and should achieve the following: 

Reaches a global customer-base. Presents all taxes, shipping, and other fees upfront to minimize cart abandonment.Includes fraud detection capabilities that may help protect revenue and brand trust.Offers multiple payment choices that meet customer expectations, including linked credit cards and bank accounts, digital wallets, loyalty and incentive schemes, and more.

Consumers crave transparency, so ensure a frictionless customer experience at checkout by offering all purchase costs up front. Eight in ten customers identified a need for flexible shipment policies, while 72% want to be presented with multiple shipping options, including in-store pickup, curbside pickup, and home delivery.1 

Build loyalty by partnering with a trusted payments provider 

Due to rising customer acquisition costs, retention is essential to growth. The post-purchase experience offers new ways to retain customers when supported by a trusted and proven payments provider.

Customers identified their main retention-related priorities as flexible return policies (83%), built-in loyalty programs (66%), and priority access and customer care for loyal members (55%).1 Partnering with a trusted and proven payment provider makes it easy to meet customers' needs by:

Enabling consistent, smooth, and complete payment and processing visibility and management.  Providing a comprehensive, easy-to-use loyalty program. Facilitating repeat purchases by storing vaulted customer data.Incentivizing customers to make upsell or repeat purchases through memberships and subscriptions. 

When those customers feel you're meeting their needs at every stage, they may be more inclined to advocate for your brand. Businesses can also turn loyal customers into brand advocates by investing in a brand advocacy program, which aims to turn repeat shoppers into brand evangelists that spread the word about your product or service. In fact, 75% of advocates are likely to share a good experience with a brand, and 90% of advocates will write something positive about their purchasing experience. And just a little bit of advocacy can go a long way: When customer advocacy increases by 12%, it doubles revenue growth.2 

Of course, business growth takes time — and can be most impactful when it's supported by integrated technology that delivers smart and actionable insights. Businesses that leverage this tech effectively — and adapt quickly in the face of economic changes — are best positioned to come out on top. By combining efficient operations with a customer-centric approach, businesses can begin to work toward achieving their profitable growth ambitions — today, tomorrow, and beyond.

Ready to integrate your tech stack and drive business growth? Find out how PayPal can help. 

Advertisement Feature: This article is sponsored by PayPal, and its content has been created in collaboration with Insider Studios.

[The content of this article/blog is for informational purposes only and PayPal is not responsible for third party content. You should always obtain independent tax, financial, and legal advice before making any business decisions.]

1Forrester Consulting survey commissioned by PayPal, PayPal Evolution of commerce insights 2023. n=5,036, 5 markets: the US, UK, Australia, Germany and France. Online survey of global consumers (18+ who are active consumers with enterprise level businesses) between November 2022-January 2023. 

2 "Customer advocacy strategy guide." On24, 2023.