6 Tips to improve cross-border online sales

 

Expanding your online business across borders brings exciting growth opportunities, but achieving success in cross-border online sales requires a well-optimized payment strategy. With varying payment preferences, currencies, and regulations in different regions, it's crucial to ensure a seamless and secure payment experience for international customers.

In this article, we will explore top 3 factors that influence cross-border online sales and 6 tips to improve cross-border online sales specifically through optimizing your payment process. 

By implementing these strategies, you can enhance customer trust, increase conversions, and maximize revenue from global markets.

Top 3 factors that influence cross-border online sales

  • Trust and reputation

Trust plays a crucial role in cross-border online sales. Customers need to trust the online seller and have confidence in the quality of the products or services being offered. 

Factors that contribute to building trust include positive customer reviews and ratings, transparent and accurate product descriptions, secure and reliable payment methods, and a strong online presence with clear contact information and responsive customer support.

  • Smooth payment process

Smooth payment process plays a conversion role for cross-border online sales.The choice of payment methods is a significant factor in cross-border online sales. Offering convenient, secure, and preferred payment options increases customer confidence and reduces barriers to purchase. 

Different regions have varying payment preferences, so providing a variety of payment methods, including credit cards, debit cards, digital wallets, and local payment systems, can enhance the cross-border sales experience.

  • Shipping and logistics

Efficient shipping and logistics are essential for successful cross-border online sales. Customers expect their orders to be delivered in a timely manner, and the shipping costs should be reasonable. 

Factors such as shipping options, tracking capabilities, customs procedures, and returns and exchanges policies can greatly impact customer satisfaction and the overall success of cross-border sales.

How to boost cross-border online sales?

1.Offering diverse payment options

Collaborating with payment providers specializing in cross-border transactions can simplify the process and optimize conversions. Look for reliable global payment processors with different payment options, strong security measures, and a user-friendly interface to streamline cross-border payments.

Diverse payment preferences exist across different countries and regions. To cater to international customers effectively, provide a variety of payment options. 

Besides major credit cards, consider integrating popular digital wallets (e.g., PayPal, Alipay, WeChat Pay), local payment gateways, and region-specific methods. 

Research the preferred payment methods in your target markets and ensure seamless integration to enhance convenience and improve conversion rates.

Silkpay is a reliable global payment processor that offers a range of online payment solutions:

(1)Credit and debit cards: Visa, MasterCard, CB, American Express, UnionPay, Cofinoga

(2)Online payment methods: SEPA, IDEAL, Sofort and Giropay

(3)E-wallet: PayPal, Google Pay, Alipay, WeChat Pay, Paylib, klarna

(4)PaybyLink

(5)Prepaid card: ANCV, Titres Cado, Illicado

By partnering with Silkpay, businesses can leverage their expertise in facilitating seamless and secure online transactions across borders. This collaboration can help build trust with customers, enhance the localization efforts, and ultimately drive cross-border online sales.

2.Use PaybyLink

PaybyLink is a powerful strategy that enables you to send payment links directly to customers. Instead of redirecting customers to your website's checkout page, you can generate a unique payment link and send it via email, messaging apps, or social media platforms. 

It allows customers to complete their purchase with a few clicks, eliminating the need for them to navigate through your website. This convenient and efficient payment method enhances the customer experience and can significantly improve conversion rates.

Silkpay offers a powerful solution for businesses looking to implement a Paybylink strategy. With Silkpay's services, you can generate unique payment links and send them directly to customers through various channels:

(1)SMS

(2)Social media

(3)Email

(4)In-store

(5)Call center

(6)QR code

By leveraging Silkpay's Pay by link service, you can streamline the payment process for customers. 

Silkpay's expertise in cross-border transactions and secure payment processing ensures that the pay by link strategy is implemented smoothly, providing businesses with a reliable solution to optimize their online sales.

3.Integrate online payment through API

API (Application Programming Interface) integration allows you to connect your online store directly to the payment provider's infrastructure, enabling real-time and seamless transactions.

By integrating API, you eliminate the need for customers to navigate to a third-party payment gateway, resulting in a smoother and more integrated checkout experience. 

Silkpay offers robust API integration options that empower businesses to seamlessly connect their online stores to the payment provider's infrastructure. This ensures faster transaction processing, reducing the risk of cart abandonment and improving customer satisfaction.

Integrate online payment through API

4.Integrate payment plugins

Payment plugins offer a convenient way to integrate different payment gateways into your online store.They are designed to work with popular e-commerce platforms and content management systems, allowing you to easily add and configure multiple payment options. 

Choose payment plugins that support the preferred payment methods in your target markets, ensuring a seamless and user-friendly checkout experience for international customers.

Silkpay offers two versatile payment plugins that seamlessly integrate with various e-commerce platforms and content management systems such as Prestashop and Woocommerce, providing businesses with a convenient solution to expand their payment options. 

By leveraging Silkpay's payment plugins, businesses can easily add and configure multiple payment gateways into their online stores. These plugins are designed to work with popular e-commerce platforms, ensuring compatibility and ease of use. 

Silkpay's commitment to providing reliable and secure payment solutions makes their payment plugins a valuable asset for businesses aiming to optimize cross-border online sales.

 

5.Optimize for mobile payments

Mobile commerce is on the rise worldwide, making it essential to optimize your payment process for mobile devices. Ensure your online store is mobile-responsive, with a streamlined mobile checkout experience. 

Integrate popular mobile payment methods relevant to your target markets, such as mobile wallets. Simplifying the payment process for mobile users enhances convenience and drives cross-border sales.

Silkpay offers seamless integration with popular mobile payment methods, including mobile wallets such as PayPal, Google Pay, Alipay, WeChat Pay, Paylib, and Klarna. By integrating these mobile payment methods into your online store, you can cater to the preferences of your target markets and enhance the convenience of the payment process for mobile users.

Optimize for mobile payments

6.Localize the payment experience

Localization extends beyond language translation. Customize the payment experience to align with local expectations and preferences. 

Display payment options in the local language, optimize checkout flows to match regional norms, and adapt to local payment methods and requirements. Seamless integration with local payment processors enhances trust and reduces friction in the buying process.

Conclusion

To increase your cross-border online sales, optimizing your payment strategy is essential. By offering diverse payment options, using Paybylink, integrating payment methods via API, integrating payment plugins, optimizing for mobile payments and localizing the payment experience, you can enhance the customer experience and drive conversions. By implementing these strategies, you can build trust, improve the payment process, and unlock the full potential of cross-border online sales.

About the author: Silkpay

Based in Paris, Silkpay provides omnichannel and secure payment solutions to help physical stores and e-commerce in Europe accept more than 30 of the world's most popular payment methods: Visa, Mastercard, CB, UnionPay, Alipay+, WeChat Pay as well as Asia-Pacific’s major e-wallets.

Silkpay is a winner of the LVMH Innovation Award. The company was also selected as a finalist for the "Money 20/20" Best Startup and in the "MPE Berlin” Startup Awards. Silkpay also won the "Best Fintech" awards from Capgemini and BPCE.

Silkpay helps merchants deliver the smoothest payment experience to their customers. We are a talented and international team driven by a single goal: to improve the customer experience and make payments simple and secure.