If you talk to any two customers, you’re likely to get different answers about what they most value in a business. That’s what’s challenging about being a new entrepreneur or the owner of an established company. You need to determine what most would-be customers are likely to value while also understanding that it’s next to impossible to please everyone.
However, even though you’ll see a healthy discrepancy in the answers when you ask customers what they value most, there are often commonalities to which you should pay attention. For instance, many customers will mention payment speed and how much it matters to them.
Let’s talk about why this matters so much to so many consumers.
Customers Don’t Have the Attention Span They Once Did
When a business is being set up, before it opens its doors to paying customers, the owner or operator will want to have the right payment processing options in place. For instance, a credit monitoring merchant account for payment processing serves both the business entity and consumer.
There are several payment processing options a business owner might seek out and implement, but whichever one they choose, they’ll want it to emphasize speed just as much as security. This is because, speaking frankly, most consumers don’t have very long attention spans anymore.
This could be attributed to various factors, but the reasons why hardly matter. What’s more important is catering to individuals who want the checkout process concluded as quickly as possible. If they encounter any difficulty, that’s when business owners often see the higher levels of shopping cart abandonment they want so much to avoid.
Instant Gratification is a Part of the Consumer Process
Instant gratification also comes into play. If a consumer sees a product or service they want, and they make the decision to pull out a credit card or use some other preferred payment method, they don’t want that product or service at some undetermined time in the future. They want it immediately.
Again, a fast checkout and payment process allow this to happen. If there’s any friction, that feeling of instant gratification is marred. You can feel certain that a consumer who’s unhappy with the length of the payment process will take their business elsewhere next time.
A Smooth Flow is Indicative of a Company in Control
There’s a third factor that’s worth mentioning when discussing faster payment processing. A smooth, uninterrupted checkout and payment process is proof positive that the company the consumer is doing business with is competent and in control of their app or website. A marginally slower checkout time or any friction sends the opposite message.
If a customer senses that a payment is taking longer than it should, they won’t just get impatient. They will trust the business entity less, and rightly so.
Slow payment processing could mean that the standard security measures the customer has come to expect aren’t working as well as they should. It’s another reason to possibly go with a competitor next time.
