5 signs your current payment processing is costing you sales

Your customer finds the product they need in your online store, adds it to their cart, and is ready to buy. But when it’s time to pay, they’re redirected to another page, can’t find their preferred payment method, or their payment is declined without explanation.

Even though the sale seemed certain, any difficulty during payment can cause your customer to abandon their cart and shop elsewhere. If this happens often, the problem may not be your product or its price. Instead, completing a purchase on your website may be harder than expected.

Payment processing includes the entire journey from when your customer enters their card details at your online store’s checkout until they receive their purchase confirmation. 

When this process is confusing or has errors, it can create roadblocks at the most important point in the sale. That’s why providing a simple, clear shopping experience is key to helping your customer complete their order and encouraging them to shop with you again.

Identifying the following signs will help you understand what is getting in the way of your sales and which solutions you can implement to provide a simpler shopping experience, improve payment approval rates, and keep customers from abandoning their carts.

1. Your customers are redirected to another page to pay

Your customer browses your site, chooses what they want to buy, and reaches checkout. But just before paying, they’re sent to an external page with a different domain, design, or look and feel.

This change can create uncertainty. Your customer may think they accidentally left your site, wonder whether the new page is secure, or decide that the process requires more steps than expected.

The global average cart abandonment rate exceeds 70%, according to Baymard Institute’s checkout research. While the reasons can vary, a complicated experience can cause your customer to leave even after choosing what they want to buy.

Every redirect disrupts the journey, especially on mobile devices. Integrated payments within checkout reduce unnecessary steps and eliminate the need to send your customer to another page, which can reduce abandonment and help your business turn more shopping carts into completed sales.

To prevent this disruption, Tilopay is the partner your business needs to sell more and provide a shorter, simpler payment experience. You can integrate it directly with platforms such as Shopify, WIX, VTEX, WooCommerce and more. This allows your customers to complete payment within the same environment, helping you maintain a smoother experience through purchase confirmation.

2. You receive many declined payments

A payment may be declined because of incorrect information, decisions by the issuing bank, security settings, or issues with the route used to process it.

When this happens often, you may lose sales from customers who intended to pay. That’s why it’s important to review your approval rate, the main reasons for declines, and the cards or banks that experience the most issues.

To improve these results, you need a solution that selects the best available route for each payment. Tilopay does this through Smart Routing, a tool that improves your approval rate and helps more purchases get completed.

3. Your customers can’t find their preferred payment method

Your customer may be ready to buy but decide not to continue after discovering that your business doesn’t accept cards, doesn’t accept the card they want to use, doesn’t offer installment options, or doesn’t offer their preferred local payment method.

Payment methods are becoming more diverse worldwide. According to an analysis by Visa Consulting & Analytics on the growth of digital payments, alternative payment methods are expected to account for 58% of e-commerce sales by 2028. This shows that not all your customers want to pay the same way and that preferences can vary significantly by country.

With Tilopay, you can accept Visa, Mastercard, and American Express (AMEX), the most recognized and widely used card brands worldwide. You can also offer local payment methods based on the country:

• Costa Rica: Sinpe Móvil, Tasa Cero BAC, and Minicuotas BAC.

• Panama: Yappy, Tafi, Crediviva, and Tasa Cero BAC.

• Guatemala: Cuotas BAC.

The priority isn’t to add every available option, but to offer the ones your customers actually use in each market.

4. Your website makes paying more complicated than necessary

The payment experience doesn’t depend solely on whether checkout works. The page design, button clarity, number of steps, and ease of finding information also influence the decision to continue.

In industries such as Retail, your customer should be able to easily identify the total amount, any additional costs, and the button to proceed to payment. In Hospitality, they should clearly see the amount associated with their reservation, the currency, and whether the charge is a deposit or full payment. In Services, they need to confirm what they’re paying for, the date of their appointment or service, and whether it’s a one-time or recurring payment.

To evaluate the experience, test it on mobile devices and computers. Check the load time, number of fields, visibility of the amount and currency, clarity of error messages, and ease of confirming the payment.

5. Your returning customers must enter their information with every purchase

When customers return to make another purchase, book another reservation, or hire a service again, they expect the process to be faster than the first time. If they have to enter all their card details every time, the experience can become repetitive and increase the chances that they’ll leave before paying.

Mobile wallets such as Apple Pay and Google Pay help speed up this process by allowing your customer to authorize payment from their device in seconds using facial recognition, a fingerprint, or a passcode. This makes purchasing faster and reduces friction at checkout.

In addition to these options, with Tilopay, your customers can securely save their cards for future purchases. When they return to your online store, they can pay in fewer steps and without needing to have their physical card nearby, making the purchase faster.

Turn your payment processing into an opportunity for your business

Selling more—and selling better—requires ongoing review. Your customers’ preferences change, and payment options are constantly evolving. If you frequently analyze what’s happening at the final stage of the purchase, you’ll be able to see why some payments fail or where customers drop off in the process. This allows you to make adjustments before these issues turn into lost sales.

Improving this sales process isn’t about adding options without a clear purpose. It’s about making the shopping experience simpler and more intuitive. The right solution should adapt to the channels where you sell, the countries or regions where you operate, and your customers’ payment preferences.

Tilopay lets you connect payments to the platforms your business already uses through Conexión a Plataformas, improve your approval rate with Smart Routing, accept cards such as American Express (AMEX), offer local payment methods, and allow your customers to securely save their cards for future purchases.

Are you ready to reduce cart abandonment and complete more sales in your online store? Sign up for Tilopay here.