Increase Sales with Easy Chat Payments this Festive Season

“Online shopping figures released by Adobe as part of its Digital Economy Index showed that consumers spent a total of $204.5 billion for the holiday season including the months of November and December.” - Forbes 

The record online sales of the previous festive season show that consumers want to do their shopping safely and conveniently from the comfort of their homes. Businesses looking to get in on the festive season sales’ action need to make the entire customer experience as hassle-free as possible. That’s where Chat 2 Pay is a fantastic solution. This chat commerce platform allows businesses to quickly conclude the sale via the mobile chat platform.

What is chat commerce?

Chat 2 Pay is a form of chat commerce that companies can use to secure payments. It performs all the requirements to securely pass information between your business, the payment provider, and the customer simply and quickly. 

How does chat commerce increase festive sales?

 “Over the holiday season, 43% of online sales came from smartphones which is a slight increase from the 40% usage last year.” - Forbes

 With smartphones now a ubiquitous device the world over, it’s no surprise that consumers are pivoting to this platform to browse and buy goods online. The recent statistics reported by Google are incredibly positive in terms of mobile shopping: 

• 63% of consumers are more likely to purchase from companies whose mobile sites offer relevant product recommendations.

• 58% of consumers feel more favourable towards mobile sites that remember their past behaviour.

• 30% of consumers are more likely to use a brand’s mobile site when making a one-time purchase. 

It’s clear that customers are readily engaged on mobile platforms and keen to make purchases using this format, but what can businesses do to further drive sales? 

1.  Provide recommendations

Using the chat commerce platform, you can drive sales by sending recommendations directly to your potential customers. This can be achieved by providing ‘decision support’ that helps them choose between items, or provides suggestions based on their purchase history or preferences. This engagement and support are likely to increase sales. 

2. Share specials and discounts

The festive season is a time of excessive spending, and in this particular economy, people are looking to save money wherever they can. It’s a great option to share any promotional deals with customers on the chat platform, with options like two-for-one specials and limited-time offers a great way to secure a sale. The more customer information you have, the more personalised the messaging can be.

3. Add click-to-message

Give customers the option of clicking to message your company as a way to direct them to your chat commerce platform. You can use chatbots to attend to frequently asked questions or share product information to encourage purchases. Otherwise, a live agent can engage with your customers for more complicated product queries. They will then go straight from here to the Text 2 Pay feature that concludes the sale.

4. Use triggers

You can also set up online triggers that encourage your customers to engage with you on the chat platform to drive sales. This can be when visiting the ‘contact us’ or ‘FAQ’ pages, or if there’s simply a delay on the checkout page. This engagement will convert more sales. 

5. Integrate with a software

You can integrate your business chat with customer relationship management (CRM) software so that you can gather and store valuable customer information. When engaging with customers, live agents can draw on this information in real time to further drive sales. 

6. Simplify payment

Using Text 2 Pay, you’re giving your customers exactly what they want – a simple yet safe payment method. When you’re facilitating the payment on a mobile device, customers don’t have time to get cold feet, they simply make the payment and move on to the next purchase.

7. Keep customers updated

It’s not just about the sale, you need to show your customers support after the fact so that they’re more likely to return. Keep them updated via the chat platform on the delivery status of their festive gifts, so that they know they’ll arrive in time.

8. Encourage customer feedback

Getting to know what your customers like and dislike about your service is key to making improvements and growing as a business. This also shows your customers that you value their business and are looking for ways to support them further. 

What are the benefits of chat payments?

The chat commerce platform allows you to secure sales more quickly and efficiently, but there are more benefits to this system for businesses. 

• Support for small businesses: This particular platform allows even smaller businesses to connect with consumers at scale. It can connect you to as many as thousands of potential customers which is often necessary during the festive season push. 

• It allows for global expansion: For companies looking to enter new markets, the festive season is a great time to do this. Chat commerce provides customer support in various regions, with translation features to overcome language barriers.

How does Chat 2 Pay work?

The great thing about chat payments is that they’re so simple and easy to use. When a customer wants to purchase an item, the following happens: 

1. A payment request is triggered by your business and is sent to the customer as a link in an SMS or WhatsApp message.

2. The customer receives the link and clicks on it, directing them to a secure checkout page.

3. The customer fills in their payment details and submits, receiving confirmation of their order as well as the receipt, also delivered in a message. 

Benefits of Clickatell’s Chat 2 Pay

It’s quite evident that Chat 2 Pay is best integrated into your system ahead of the festive season rush so as boost your sales this year. And if you’re going this route, then Clickatell is undoubtedly the company to partner with. The benefits for you include: 

• Improving the customer experience by providing them with a safe and secure way to make purchase payments immediately. 

• Reducing the cost of your business while encouraging sales. 

• Delivering a convenient and contact-free checkout experience as part of an omnichannel communication strategy. 

Get in touch with Clickatell and make this festive season one to celebrate!