Adyen country manager of Australia and New Zealand, Hayley Fisher, shares insights from a new report on how to get the most out of the upcoming sales season.
There’s a buzz of excitement in the air. Shops are filling up and online is busier than ever. It’s time for retailers to take advantage of this sales period – or what we call peak season.
It officially starts with Singles’ Day on 11 November, followed by Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and concludes after the Boxing Day sales. On either side of these dates, shoppers are spending more, with most now searching for sales from early October to late January.
Peak season provides a huge opportunity to recover lost sales after a turbulent year. But it’s not without its challenges.
Expect to see a rise in unconventional purchase journeys, new customers, and unpredictable demands.
Supply chain challenges and national postal service delays mean that retailers need to tweak marketing campaigns and optimise their in-store and online systems to handle surges in traffic.
Consumer expectations for high quality omnichannel experiences are also stronger than ever. We’ll see strong uptake of options like click and collect and endless aisle shopping, as well as options to return purchases across channels – like buy online and return in-store.
Adyen's Agility Report shows 53% of Australian consumers would be more loyal to retailers that allow them to return items they bought online in-store.
With so many brands vying for consumer attention, enabling these cross-channel experiences can really enhance a retailer’s bottom line.
To generate the best outcomes across peak season, retailers should also look to an often-forgotten element of success: payments. The checkout is the most important conversion point in the customer’s journey.
Throughout peak season and beyond, give your customers the option to pay the way they want though local or global payment methods.
This will increase conversion rates when spontaneous or hasty shoppers land on your online platform or visit in-store.
If you can, allow customers to purchase in one click via secure pre-filled contact and delivery fields. Not only is it faster, but it also allows you to recognise return customers and reward them for their loyalty.
Adyen’s new Peak Season report details four main ways that payments can help retailers maximise growth:
1. Develop bespoke customer journeys with payments data
Create a convenient, 360-degree overview of your sales channels, based on customers' payment histories.
This helps retailers discover shoppers’ needs, wishes and preferences, supporting them to build loyalty, welcome new audiences and grow revenue.
Choose a global payments partner that can share best practices and emerging trends from other markets, like livestream selling and augmented reality experiences.
2. Turbo charge sales conversion rates, in-store and online
No matter how unique your service or product is, your business will suffer if payments fail.
Our research shows 22% of shoppers abandon a purchase if there are too many steps during the checkout.
Improving the checkout flow and range of payment options, across multiple devices, will help.
As will enhancing your loyalty offering for shoppers across every channel.
3. Fight fraud and managing regulations and legislation
The more visitors that come to your shop, the better.
But you don't want to spoil the fun by exposing shoppers, or your own company, to payment fraud.
With the right payments provider, you can implement strong risk management systems to detect and reduce fraud.
Let the platform do the heavy lifting, while you focus on delivering quality experiences!
4. Support for good initiatives that build positive brand recognition
The right payments partner can help you launch new channels and open stores quickly, anywhere in the world.
They can also help you grow the business and give back to the community, with integrated donate at checkout-type functions.
Build positive brand recognition and support your long-term goals, while driving conversions.
Adyen is here to help you get more from your payments.
Adyen is the payments platform of choice for many of the world’s leading companies, providing a modern end-to-end infrastructure connecting directly to Visa, Mastercard, and consumers' globally preferred payment methods.
Adyen delivers frictionless payments across online, mobile, and in-store channels.
With offices across the world, Adyen serves customers including Facebook, Uber, Spotify, L'Oréal, Lorna Jane, the Cotton On Group, Budgy Smuggler, Movember, Showpo, Rodd & Gunn, and Jurlique.
Are you truly ready for the peak season? Download the full Peak Season report with more great insights.