Few steps in the online shopping process annoy consumers more than the number of fields they need to fill out before confirming their order – so Shopify Inc. has decided to replace it with a new mobile-friendly feature.
Rather than asking returning customers to fill out their name, address, and credit card information for the umpteenth time, Shopify Pay simply sends a six-digit verification text message to their mobile phone – and automatically takes care of the rest.
The Canadian ecommerce darling plans to make the service available to every store using Shopify Payments over the coming weeks, at no cost.
“When shoppers find something they love online, nothing takes the wind out of their sails like filling in a ton of fields at checkout,” Shopify product manager Richard Btaiche wrote in an April 20 blog post. “With Shopify Pay… they’ll no longer need to spend time typing in their shipping and payment details anytime they want to buy from you, or any other store powered by Shopify.”
Naturally, providing customers with a better online retail experience also boosts conversion rates, and according to Btaiche the “thousands” of Shopify customers which have started accepting Shopify Pay have already seen a 40 per cent boost in checkout completion speed, and an 18 per cent conversion rate increase for returning customers.
Most importantly, the service maintains the security of its repetitive predecessor, with customer information is encrypted and stored on Shopify’s PCI compliant servers, while its reliance on SMS verification codes ensure that only account owners can use the service.
To opt in, shoppers need only confirm that they would like their information saved with Shopify Pay after entering their shipping and payment details.
Once registered, next time the customer visits any Shopify-powered online store – emphasis on any Shopify-powered store, not simply the one that initially helped them log into the service – they can simply type in their email address, triggering Shopify Pay to send them an SMS-based text they can enter to check out.
More importantly, the service is available on any device or browser that consumers might use for online purchases, Btaiche wrote.