There’s no question that customers and hospitality businesses alike have lived through monumental changes and challenges in recent years. And after these years filled with uncertainty, rapid pivots and market volatility, a slowing economy presents yet another test. As your company continues to weather the macro-economic storm, fine-tuning your operations to capture as much revenue as possible is mission critical.
So where should you start? We recommend taking a careful look at your guest payment checkout. Amid increased inflation and an economic slowdown, the speed, security, and convenience of your payment checkout are paramount. But the vast majority of checkouts fall short.
QikServe is a pioneer in the field of integrated customer ordering technology, delivering elegant solutions to complex problems for ambitious hospitality businesses, including its QikServe Payments, a payments platform which is specifically designed for the hospitality industry.
“Customers today expect speed and convenience when it comes to payment transactions. A smooth checkout combined with a range of payment options can translate to an increase of 30% on your bottom line.”
Lesley Corr, Business Manager, QikServe Payments
1) The Problem: Checkout Conversion – Put yourself in your customer’s shoes for a moment. We’ve all been there: You’ve browsed the menu, you’ve compared combo-deals, and you’ve made your selection. The food is in your online cart, and you’re ready to buy. Then, you get to the checkout form—and it stops you in your tracks. If a slow or complicated checkout caused you to give up on the transaction, you’re hardly alone. In Stripe’s survey, 60% of customers said they give up on an order after two minutes, while the average length of checkout takes three minutes.
The Solution – It’s critical to optimize your checkout flow and eliminate any areas of friction or barriers that might cause customers to take their business elsewhere. Capture more revenue by making ordering easier for customers—allow customers to save their payment information for faster checkout in the future, upsell and upsell with product recommendations in your menu, and if customers abandon their order, send them a reminder to complete the transaction (if a the order is for delivery or an ‘order ahead’ transaction), or ensure that your QR code pay at table solution is supported by your front of house to offer help to customers and alternative ways to order and pay if the customer is unable to use a mobile phone.
2) The Problem: Payment Methods – Offering the payment methods your customers prefer is essential. But it’s not as simple as merely adding one or two of the top new methods to your checkout. As payment methods become more diverse and customer preferences evolve, it’s imperative to stay current with how and when your customers want to pay. This requires a targeted approach—adding payment methods that are popular in the regions where your operations are based and with your particular customers.
The Solution – Offering the right payment methods makes all the difference. To ensure you’re offering the right mix of options, pay attention to the payment methods your customers want. This tends to vary regionally, so it may be crucial to add a local payment method such as iDEAL to increase conversion with another segment of your customers. QikServe found immediate adoption of Apple Pay and Google Pay in airport hospitality, particularly with a younger demographic of customer.
3) The Problem: Mobile Optimization – Customers are increasingly using their mobile devices to browse and shop online, and now with the incredibly high adoption of QR code order and pay at table, forward facing hospitality businesses are missing out on revenue opportunities if they haven’t optimized their operations for mobile. Stripe’s study found that nearly half of customers use smartphones more often than desktop devices to place orders. But one in five in North American sites have at least one basic error in the mobile optimization process, and 93% do not support wallets, a mobile-friendly payment method that stores customer payment details on their phones.
The Solution – Improving the mobile checkout experience can help keep customers on track toward completing their transactions. Ideally, your mobile ordering and checkout experience will be as quick and convenient as desktop delivery ordering experience – that means you have a fully responsive checkout form that automatically adapts for your customer’s device screen size. Adding mobile-friendly payment options, such as digital wallets and one-click checkout options, is another key step. You can also allow customers to save a payment method to provide one-click checkout for future visits.
4) The Problem: Loyalty – Loyalty programs are an important offering for building recurring revenue and creating high-value repeat customers—and they can be an effective part of your strategy for navigating an economic downturn.
The Solution – Customers have come to expect a seamless experience, with conveniences such as one-click checkout and saved payment methods that make online transactions fast and simple. Loyalty programs must deliver the same level of ease to remain competitive and grow. A few ways to achieve this: Improve your loyalty by offering free add-ons, autofill capabilities, and self-service options so customers can orders on their phones, or at a kiosk, without having to speak to a customer service representative.
Taking the steps above to improve your checkout can help strengthen your business and help it perform its best through a more challenging economic climate. But these steps are also just the beginning. With QikServe Payments, you have a great team in your corner to help keep your hospitality business going strong. Get in touch with our team of experts to learn more about how we can help optimize your checkout.