As more and more people shop through their phones, ensuring a seamless and secure mobile payment process is essential.
Where once users turned to a desktop to make the final purchase or to place an order, they are increasingly more comfortable using their smartphone to complete the transaction.
Brands have to adapt to this growing need and deliver a safe and quick shopping experience.
In this post, we’ll explore everything you need to know about, and how to integrate mobile payments into your Shopify mobile app.
We’ll also arm you with some of the best practices so you can get started.
What is a mobile payment?
Any transaction a user undertakes via an app or website on their phone, tablet, or smartwatch is considered a mobile payment.
Customers prefer to buy items or services through certified digital payment tools like Apple/Google Pay (digital wallets), credit/debit cards, or even direct payment modes like net banking.
As a result, the world of virtual wallets is booming, as they promise secure and convenient (on-the-go) payment processes.
Additionally, people are not as eager to carry physical cash and cards and prefer tapping and scanning through:
- NFC (Near Field Communication): You can offer contactless payments with this method. It works by allowing nearby devices to communicate by tapping
- QR Codes: Give your customers a unique QR code to scan and complete the payment on their device.
- Mobile Payment Gateways: A rising number of customers use PayPal, Apple Pay, and Google Pay to ensure the transaction is secure.
The rise of mobile shopping and mobile payments
Mobile payments tick many boxes - convenience, customer demand for speed, security, and especially, flexibility.
In fact:
- One study found that 43.2% of US smartphone owners already use mobile payments.
- In 2023, NFC and other contactless tools are projected to generate over 220 billion U.S. dollars in transaction value.
- Digital wallet transactions are projected to reach $12 trillion globally by 2025.
Types of mobile payments for eCommerce businesses
As eCommerce evolves, offering diverse payment options has become crucial for businesses to meet the needs of global consumers.
Mobile payments include a range of methods, each tailored to different customer preferences and regional trends.
If you’re a Shopify app owner, you must understand the different types of mobile payments for catering to different customer sets:
1. Credit/Debit Card
Card payments are the most traditional and widely used form of digital payment, preferred across ages, and tier 1 + tier 2 cities.
Since customers can safely add their card details and secure them, it becomes easier to pay for future orders without having to fish out their cards.
It is key to avoid friction points like this that can distract a user since it will increase abandoned carts and failed order rate.
2. Digital Wallets
Post the pandemic, contactless digital wallets like Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Paytm took the world of mobile payments by storm.
Such wallets also securely (biometric authentication) store customers’ payment details and enable orders with a few taps and/or a scan.
Digital wallets are especially popular in the US, Europe, and parts of Asia.
3. Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) Options
Besides cards, you can access credit services like Klarna, Afterpay, and Affirm for customers who want flexible payment plans.
Integrating mobile payments like BNPL into your Shopify app will allow shoppers to split their purchases into smaller installments, often with zero interest.
You can increase average cart value and consequently, sales while reducing perceived financial burden.
4. Bank Transfers and UPI
Direct bank transfers and Unified Payments Interface (UPI) apps are very popular in countries like India.
Some of the most popular mobile payment apps like PhonePe, GPay, and Paytm offer instant and smooth payments.
The best part?
They usually have lower transaction fees compared to card payments and become an ideal payment option for markets where credit card penetration is low but smartphone usage is high.
5. QR Code Payments
Removing the need for physical terminals, QR codes allow customers to do a simple scan-and-pay transaction.
It’s great for both offline and online orders since the payment is linked via an app or a wallet.
This method was also popular post the pandemic for contactless shopping.
6. Cryptocurrency Payments (Optional and Emerging)
Some brands also accept cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or Ethereum.
Their rising popularity owes itself to its ability to enable decentralized and secure transactions and customers who want privacy.
Benefits of mobile payments for customers
Why are consumers preferring to pay through mobile phones more than ever before?
Let’s take a look at the advantages of implementing mobile payments in your Shopify app:
1. Speed and convenience
By offering both convenience and security, customers enjoy a more reassuring shopping experience, pivotal to ensuring their return for future orders.
Time spent at checkout is reduced, especially if it has saved the customer’s payment details safe.
Faster checkout means fewer abandoned carts and more orders.
2. Enhanced security
Privacy laws are getting tougher and more stringent to meet customer’s demand for security.
It is their top priority, and mobile payment systems have to be designed with advanced safety features.
Mobile payment methods use tokenization to ensure that sensitive data like card numbers are replaced with encrypted tokens.
Biometric authentication, like fingerprint scan or facial recognition, also adds more layers of protection.
These tools often have built-in fraud detection tools that can alert the user of suspicious activities in real time.
3. Loyalty programs
Most of these mobile payment methods are linked with different loyalty programs, where customers automatically earn and redeem rewards at checkout.
This is great for encouraging repeat customers, as they can use their rewards to reduce their bills or get exclusive perks like free shipping.
It also helps build a stronger connection with the brand.
4. Contactless and hygienic
The post-pandemic world saw contactless payments become the need of the hour. By integrating mobile payments, you eliminate the need for physical contact and terminals.
5. Real-time payment tracking
Mobile payments tend to be quick and instant not only in their process but also in their communication with their users.
With immediate transaction updates and payment confirmations through SMS or app alerts, and a payment history tracking feature, brands can increase transparency with increasingly wary customers.
How to integrate mobile payments into your Shopify store app
Now that we have explored why it's important to ensure you offer mobile payments, here’s a simple guide to get you started:
- Understand Customer Preferences: Study your target market to identify which payment methods are the most popular.
- Check for Compliance: Make sure you have understood Shopify’s official rules and regulations for payment gateways.
- Select Popular Providers: Shopify supports many payment methods, including Stripe, Razorpay, and PayPal. Make sure it aligns with your customers' preferences you noted in step 1.
- Use Shopify APIs or a Mobile App Builder: Shopify’s APIs allow brands to integrate with mobile payment methods easily. You can also use mobile app builders like Appbrew to integrate without needing heavy development resources.
- Configure Settings: Set up merchant accounts on the selected payment platforms in your Shopify admin panel. Specify which payments you accept.
- Test Extensively: Conduct rigorous testing across devices and scenarios to ensure every payment method functions flawlessly.
Mobile payment best practices
Follow these below practices to increase the chances of mobile payment fraud detection, while providing a safe shopping environment:
- Enable End-to-End Encryption: Do this for all transactions as it protects sensitive data from interception. Use TLS protocols and tokenization for more security.
- Choose PCI DSS-Compliant Gateways: Ensure your payment provider is compliant and transparent in its adherence to industry standards to minimize future data breach risks.
- Enable Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): Add a second layer of protection, like biometric or OTP verification, to prevent unauthorized access.
- Keep Your App Updated: Address vulnerabilities and ensure it is compatible with the latest security protocols.
- Use AI-driven Fraud Detection: Use AI tools to track and block suspicious activities in real-time.
- Educate Customers: Share tips to reduce fraud, like avoiding public Wi-Fi and recognizing phishing attempts.
How to ensure your mobile payments work seamlessly
While there are many small tweaks you can do to smoothen the checkout process further, here are some key tips that ensure your customers can place an order:
- Check and Improve your Payment APIs: Consistently test and monitor any API used for payment to reduce any delays or lags, all of which can discourage your customer from finishing the order. Additionally, make sure it can handle high sales traffic.
- Track Failed Payments: Multiple and repeated declines will frustrate customers. In case there’s a surge of this error, look for common causes like network issues, incorrect payment details, or security flags.
- Offer Responsive Support: Quick, helpful support can turn a potentially negative experience into a positive one. You can use AI customer support tools to quickly reduce rising impatience and address the issue.
- Build FAQ Section: Make sure your customers can easily access a comprehensive troubleshooting guide that addresses common issues.
- Simplify Checkout: A good checkout has only the essentials to make the purchase. Minimize required fields, including guest checkout options, and enable autofill and saved info.
- State Error Clearly: If payment fails, immediately offer reasons as to why, and you can guide users through any technical issues.
- Offer Multiple Payment Tools: Want to reach more diverse markets? Include different options like credit cards, wallets, UPI, and even BNPL.
- Analyze Payment Data: Use analytics (like AppBrew’s built-in tracking dashboard) to measure performance, find drop-off points, and improve checkout.
Conclusion
With so many customers shopping online, brands have to integrate mobile payments into their Shopify app.
Aim to deliver a checkout experience that makes them remember your brand positively, encouraging them to come shop again.
We understand getting started with this may seem overwhelming, which is why we built tools like Appbrew to simplify this entire process.
Want to build or integrate payment methods that match your brand needs? Reach out to us here.
