When you run a business, you want your customers to have the most convenient experience possible. Not only will this ensure that they have an excellent customer experience when shopping with your brand, it’ll also keep your reputation shining and encourage good word of mouth marketing, which in turn can increase your customer base. Ensuring that your customers are able to make quick, convenient transactions when shopping with your brand can benefit your business in several different ways. These include:
#1. Better Reputation
Today, fast, convenient transactions are expected by customers who will often go out of their way to ensure that their online shopping can be done as quickly as possible. As a result, we’ve seen services such as Amazon Prime grow rapidly in popularity, with many people paying for the convenience of being able to pay quickly and receive their goods the very next day. Quick payment methods and fast delivery are clearly what customers today are all about when shopping online, so ensuring that your business delivers will boost your reputation.
#2. Improved Cash Flow
Slow transactions within a business aren’t just a bugbear for the customers; they can also create a number of issues with your company as well. For example, consider cash flow – if you aren’t sure exactly how much money is coming in until days or weeks later, or you have to pay your expenses before a transaction has completely cleared, ensuring that you’re bringing in more than you spend is going to become even more tricky. Giving customers the option to pay using a BACS payments service, that transfers the money to you straight away, can help to rectify this issue, as the system is automated and so requires no manual input, which reduces the time taken.
#3. Easier Returns Process
From time to time, when doing business online you are likely to have to deal with a customer that needs to return a product for any given reason. Perhaps the product was faulty, or maybe they simply found that it wasn’t the right fit for their needs upon receiving it – this can happen due to the nature of online shopping. Accepting quicker transactions will make the whole returns process easier for you since the money will have already cleared in your business account and you’ll know exactly where you stand in terms of cash flow once the refund is given. Along with that, quicker transaction options often mean that delivery can be faster, shortening the returns process significantly.
#4. Better Relationship with Suppliers
Along with improving the relationships between your business and its customers, other connections within your brand can also benefit from quick financial transactions. For example, a good relationship with your suppliers will have a knock-on effect for every aspect of your business; supplies arriving quickly mean that they can be shipped to the customer swiftly and create a great impression of your brand. Quick transactions can be key to a productive relationship with your suppliers; being able to make payments that clear straight away, or set up a regular, reliable direct debit payment will build trust from your supplier’s perspective and ensure that you become a valued and respected client.
#5. Better Security
By allowing your customers to pay via BACS and Faster Payments options, you’ll also be offering them a higher level of payment security. Rather than having to enter their debit or credit card details into a form on your website when making a purchase, customers and clients can instead send the money directly from their banking website or app to your business’ bank account. Thanks to the use of end-to-end encryption and advanced IP security used by banks, the safety of payment information is no longer something to worry about.
#6. Boost Sales
Lastly, the quicker the payments that you accept, the more likely it’s going to have a positive effect on boosting sales and bringing in more income for your company. When there’s a choice between purchasing from a brand that offers fast, secure payments and another that’s a little slower, customers today are more likely to choose the most convenient option – even if they have to pay a premium for this.
Are you using fast transactions in your business? If not, why not? We’d love to hear from you in the comments.
