Let’s start right away – money and profit rule any business. Yes, modern business trends are such that social value, environmental friendliness, customer experience, cool communication with the brand begin to come to the fore. However, the idea of business as such has not changed – to receive money, plus give social value and solve the problem.
If everything is OK with the solution to the problem and the social mission, then let’s talk about money in this article. Below we have compiled five lessons regarding payments and the ethics of handling money for eCommerce businesses. Although we are sure that other businesses will also find something in this article that they can take to the treasury of their experience.
Fight an Abandoned Shopping Cart
If your customers go to your site to select products, add them to the cart, enjoy the result and just leave, it means that some kind of mistake crept into the whole process. And in most cases, there is something wrong not with your customers, but with you, your business and your website.
An abandoned shopping cart is the main enemy of the business because your customers have almost taken out a credit card from their pocket to give you money. But they changed their minds.
Your task is to help them fulfill the target action to the end, and also to find the root of this problem. Perhaps, after they click the pay button, the site transfers them to a non-existent page. Or your customers have chosen several products and found out that they should pay for the delivery of each, instead of getting all their purchases once and in one box. Connect analytics, analyze the path of your customers and find the root of evil.
Provide Your Service or Sell Your Product in Such a Way to Avoid Chargebacks
And here the main emphasis is on the quality of the product or service itself, as well as on the level of customer service. You may reasonably ask, what does this have to do with payment lessons? And here the most direct relationship exists.
The high level of service or product quality, as well as the fulfillment of all your promises, will allow you to almost never encounter such a phenomenon as chargebacks.
Yes, of course, the buyer has the right to return the goods if he kept the packaging, payment documents, and the goods are not damaged. That is his right. But when the return of goods becomes a necessity – this is your obligation to return the money. Specialists from LendGenius advise avoiding this with all our might, through continuous improvement of the service, as well as direct interaction with customers. Very often, they themselves will be happy to point out weaknesses so you can fix it.
Nothing Builds Trust More Efficiently Than Prepayment Does
Especially when you start working with new customers or suppliers. If you are selling a large number of goods to a new customer, it will be wise to ask at least 50% in advance. If you make an order with your supplier, be prepared that he will ask you about the same. Such a thing as an advance payment very well strengthens trust, confirms the seriousness of intentions and imposes mutual obligations, which in this case is only an advantage for you.
Make Online Transactions on Your Website Safe and Smooth
Remember we talked about an abandoned cart? It is very possible that at this stage, users simply could not get to the stage of the payment, did not find the most convenient way for themselves, or realized that the commission for the transfer of money would be unprofitable. But this is just the tip of the iceberg.
Within the framework of this paragraph, your task is to make the payment system integrated into your website safe, implement protective protocols and tools for protecting personal and bank data, and also make sure that all payments pass without delays or interruptions halfway.
Yes, we do not exclude the possibility of problems on the client-side, but for you, everything should be transparent, smooth and safe. A very small percentage of customers will want to return for an abandoned basket and try again if the previous experience was unsuccessful.
Pay Your Debts First
This phrase is a direct antithesis to the statement of Brian Tracy in one of his books on business development. By the way, the same phrase is also repeated by Robert Kiyosaki in his legendary book and sounds like “Pay yourself first”. Both authors argue this position as follows. When you first pay your own labor, you supposedly release new energy and get new income opportunities to cover your debts. Perhaps this approach has a reasonable basis.
However, you must admit that it’s much easier psychologically to think about other business development opportunities and about your personal income, when you do not owe anything to suppliers, the interest on the loan, and even better the whole loan, is paid, and your employees are not going to write a letter of resignation because once again you paid yourself, but did not pay them.
And perhaps this lesson was worth putting in first place on our list. A business that has no debts is almost equal to a profitable business, and this is true not only for the eCommerce industry. Think about it at your leisure.
Conclusion
Life has shown that it is financial literacy that ensures the survival of an entrepreneur. It is based on accurate bookkeeping, balance, debit with credit, invoices, understanding of tax payments … This is very boring.
However, practice shows that only one who sensibly and honestly creates a financial picture of his business year after year is able to not only earn but also get the business out of debt in times of crisis.
The inability to count money, the lack of understanding of what kind of overhead expenses a business can sustain, what kind of income a particular product can bring, sooner or later will cause a rise in costs and a decrease in revenues as a result of a forced reduction in prices, the development of unreasonable loyalty programs in an attempt to keep the consumer.
Mónica Rodríguez is a writer, art historian, and editor at LendGenius. She specializes in Art History, Art Conservation, History, Literature, Finance, Tech, Wellness, and Travel. In her free time, she’s usually roaming the halls of the museum or the local bookstore surrounded by stacks of books.