Last holiday season, retail mobile commerce (m-commerce) sales alone grew 14.5% to reach $125.60 billion, and estimates indicate that over 50% of all e-commerce purchases this year will be made on smartphones.
Mobile shoppers expect seamless, secure, and fast mobile experiences, and to capture their attention, brands need to provide an easy-to-use experience tailored for smaller screens, on-the-go shopping, and touch interactions.
While retail marketing teams are busy planning campaigns and holiday offers to attract customers, now is the time for mobile product teams to ensure stellar experiences for those mobile holiday shoppers.
Here’s how to prepare.
Customers want a fast checkout
Optimizing checkout speed is crucial for converting visitors into buyers. The name of the game for mobile is ease of use—especially for an on-the-go holiday shopper trying to capitalize on deals as quickly as possible. Every extra step or perceived roadblock for the customer increases the risk of losing them. For example, 25% of online shoppers reported abandoning their cart because the site asked them to create an account.
Customers want a secure checkout
The holiday season, marked by a surge in online shopping and transactions, often sees a corresponding increase in credit card fraud. The convenience of online shopping is especially attractive during the holidays, but it also provides a fertile ground for CNP fraud and other cybercrimes. According to TransUnion, 69% of American consumers expressed moderate to extreme concern about online fraud during the holiday season, up from 64% in 2022. That means that retailers must balance providing a fast checkout experience and ensuring that transactions are secure.
Types of Credit Card Fraud Prevalent During the Holidays
- Card-not-present (CNP) fraud: This type of fraud occurs when the physical card is not required for the transaction, making it easier for fraudsters to use stolen card information online. With the rise in online shopping, CNP fraud becomes more common during the holiday season.
- Account takeover (ATO): Fraudsters gain access to a user’s online shopping account, often through phishing attacks or data breaches, and make unauthorized purchases using stored payment information.
- Phishing and social engineering: Scammers send fake emails or messages posing as legitimate retailers or delivery services to trick consumers into providing their credit card details.
- Gift card fraud: Fraudsters purchase gift cards using stolen credit card information or manipulate balances on existing gift cards to siphon off funds.
- Friendly fraud: Occurs when legitimate customers make purchases and then dispute the charges with their credit card issuer, claiming they never received the goods or did not authorize the transaction.
How to balance speed and security
The goal for mobile checkout is not a completely frictionless process. Some friction is necessary. When friction facilitates more thoughtful decision-making or adds perceived value to the customer, it can improve customer satisfaction and loyalty. That’s considered good friction.
But, bad friction points, like complicated forms, multiple checkout steps, and unclear instructions, can frustrate customers and lead to cart abandonment.
Successfully balancing speed and security in checkout is crucial for retailers aiming to optimize the mobile shopping experience during the holiday season. The challenge lies in implementing robust security measures without introducing friction that can slow down the checkout process.
Try these strategies:
- Integrate a card scanner. Card scanners reduce manual entry from customers while eliminating card not present fraud. By allowing customers to quickly scan their cards instead of manually entering details, these readers reduce errors and expedite checkout.
- Try adaptive authentication. Implement adaptive authentication so that low-risk transactions can proceed with minimal friction while high-risk transactions receive enhanced security checks.
- Streamline verification. Ensure that any additional verification steps are as quick and straightforward as possible, with clear instructions provided to the user.
Learn how you can balance speed & security with DyScan
DyScan is the market-leading credit card scanner that works on all credit cards.
It takes less than an hour to integrate Dyscan into your checkout process. Companies that implement DyScan see between a 4% to 21% boost in conversions and a 95% reduction in checkout time.
Get a demo to learn how you can scan 100% of cards, add to your conversions, and delight your customers.