eCommerce Guide & Best Practices

Are you optimising nline? Contents.

The eCommerce landscape

Verifone and eCommerce

Best practice for eCommerce success

Choosing the right payment solution

References

2 | September 2016 The eCommerce landscape.

In Britain eCommerce is booming. The UK it means retailers must develop ever more is now the largest online market in Europe, sophisticated multi and omni-channel with more than 95% of the country’s solutions. More than one third (34%) of shoppers using online services; accounting online transactions globally are now made on for 27% of retail sales1. a mobile device3 and in the UK almost 65% of all retail website visits are made via mobile4. This year, 43.3 million Britons will shop online2. Web-based sales are predicted to There has also been an explosion of grow 11%, reaching £126 billion1 and covering alternative payment methods such as PayPal, everything from groceries and fashion to to service online acceptance. There are now entertainment and travel. more than 300 types of payments in the world of eCommerce. Many of these help facilitate This boom is creating amazing opportunities cross border transactions. for retailers and merchants large and small. But, the continuing speed and complexity More than nine out of ten (92%) large of technical change also presents an multichannel retailers now sell online in incredible challenge. the UK5, making it one of the most popular overseas eCommerce markets in the world. As consumers switch their online buying patterns to using tablets, mobile devices and This guide provides an insight and even armchair ʻsmart televisionʼ purchases, considerations for a successful eCommerce solution for your business.

3 | September 2016 Verifone and eCommerce.

Today’s diverse business challenges require a partner that can deliver a spectrum of payment solutions. Verifone is the market leader in electronic payments across the globe and operates one of the UK’s largest ʻcustomer not presentʼ (CNP) transaction gateways. In-store Online Securely processing a total of 1.4 billion transactions each year in the UK, with a value of £100 billion, Verifone enables all channels, all platforms and all payment types. With 35 years of experience in payment solutions and services, we offer payment expertise, solutions, devices and services that add value at the , be it in-store, Self-service Mobile online, self-service, or on a mobile device.

4 | September 2016 Best practice for eCommerce success.

Select a merchant acquirer, When designing your website, 1 processor and payment 2 keep operational needs and risk provider with proven factors foremost in your mind. eCommerce experience. Key areas to consider are privacy, If you have not yet launched an reliability, refund policies, and customer electronic store-front, you need to service access. Make sure your website partner with an acquirer/payment is set up to service the needs of your processor that can provide effective risk domestic and international online management support and demonstrate customers. Choose products that a thorough understanding of internet appeal to the online audience – use fraud risk and liability. You also want good imagery and ensure descriptions to take a good, hard look at any service are clear, accurate and have all the provider before you sign a contract. necessary information required by Do they have what it takes to keep your a potential purchaser. If possible, cardholder data safe and minimise translate product information into the fraud losses? local language or offer a local language site. If shipping overseas, check customs and import duties for each country, as well as tax rates. “Consider time differences, especially for international customer service.”

5 | September 2016 Best practice for eCommerce success.

Determine the best option for Choose traditional and 3 managing your payment page. 4 relevant local-market alternative payment options. Determine the best option for managing your payment page with your gateway Without additional payment provider and make sure you have the choices, buyers who do not trust necessary Application Programming online transactions will seek out Interfaces (APIs) in place for competitors who offer a more secure effective payment processing. checkout process. However, adding too many options can make your payment page look cluttered and could confuse traditional users who think they cannot purchase without an alternative option account. Keep options clear and simple and focus on those that are most popular in the local market.

6 | September 2016 Best practice for eCommerce success.

Know your existing system’s Be transparent with your costs 5 transaction capacity and add 6 to avoid abandoned baskets. flexibility for growth. Avoid adding unexpected costs and Unresponsive, slow or unreliable data at the payment page as this can payments pages may be symptomatic lead to abandoned baskets at checkout. of load straining. You may need to You should accurately calculate postage upscale, by adding additional servers or costs and show these up front. Better cloud capacity, to deal with peak selling still, let an online marketplace service seasons or sales promotions. calculate them for you. Set expectations and be clear about delivery time-frames – if necessary, using a fulfilment service to help manage this.

7 | September 2016 Best practice for eCommerce success.

Avoid downtime with a Consider using a managed 7 disaster recovery plan. 8 payment service to reduce complexity and increase ROI. Set up and implement a disaster recovery plan so you can switch instantly to a Solutions such as Verifone’s Payment as back-up processing system if your site a Service can provide a resilient, secure goes down. Continual uptime of your and reliable hosted platform that allows payment processing system means you you to pay for what you need, when you don’t lose any sales. need it. This allows you to maximise return on investment.

8 | September 2016 Best practice for eCommerce success.

Factor in surge of transactions Remember to connect your 9 volumes following promotional 10 online and traditional platforms. activity. Increasingly, customers are using If you are planning seasonal promotions, click and collect to avoid unnecessary special deals or offers, think of the delivery costs. If you are a multi-channel impact on online site traffic. It is not retailer, consider using Verifoneʼs average volumes but high levels of eCommerce solutions to strengthen concurrent visitors that can potentially your bricks and mortar operations. knock-out your payment platform. Join the omni-channel revolution. Make sure marketing communicates Give your customers a seamless sales generation activity with your IT shopping experience in-store, department or online payment provider online and mobile. so they can factor in such surge of volumes. If you manage your online environment in-house, check that you have adequate resources and increase frequency of site monitoring to take you through the busiest periods.

9 | September 2016 Choosing the right payment solution.

The power of one. Hosted within Verifone’s PCI DSS Level 1 certified infrastructure, Payment as a Service manages your transactions and secures Verifone can provide secure and reliable sensitive card data, leaving you free to eCommerce payments through Payment as a concentrate on your core business. Service. This comprehensive service offering bundles hardware, software, gateway and professional services, encryption, estate “As a complete payments management and value-adds to make card solution, Payment as a acceptance easy for multi-channel merchants of all sizes. Service allows you to manage all your payment channels from a single-source supplier.”

10 | September 2016 References.

1 IMRG Capgemini eRetail Sales Index, January 2016

2 Ecommerce Foundation and Statista 2016

3 , Mobile Payments Index, January 2016

4 SimilarWeb July 2016

5 RetailMeNot 2016

11 | September 2016 Let’s connect [email protected] www.verifone.co.uk @Verifone_EMEA