You spend all that time getting people to the point of payment online. But what happens when they are actually ready to pay? If not careful you could lose the sale at the very last step. Thanks to a study from Worldplay about “the online payment journey” here are the top 5 functions to have when it comes to payment:

1.    Price in the guests currency

Although currency conversions can be done in a simple Google search you want to keep your potential customer on your website until they click the “confirm payment”. Fewer distractions mean a higher likelihood of a sale. Make it easy for them! Give them a price they understand.

2.    Reassurance and support

With a third of Chinese shoppers and 39% of British travellers abandoning a payment after an error message of the transaction, it is important to provide your online customers with support in case the unpredictable happens.  Although a FAQ section is the most popular go to resource for travellers seeking answers, other ways you can provide extra support are: live chats; a phone number, and reviews with solutions.

3.    Booking confirmation

With the average person visiting 38 websites while looking for the best location, hotel, room and good deal. When the customer finally books their stay, they want to be reassured that their hard earned money is well spent on a new experience. 96% of Australians and Germans classify email confirmations as very important because it guarantees that the payment has gone through.

4.    Payment options

Displaying these on your homepage enhances your credibility. However, depending on the guest’s nationality, this perception is different, so you must adapt to your target market. 52% of Spanish consider the sites to be safer if payment options are shown whereas 86% of UK travellers trust digital certificates more.

5.    Store information to save time?

Storing customers’ information emerged to solve time-consuming payments. However, privacy concerns amongst international travellers have made this option unpopular.  Only 7% of Australians want websites to keep their details and 88% of Spaniards don’t want their details to be stored at all as they are concerned that this information will end in the wrong hands. A solution to this could be social logins, a measure already implemented and proved successful by companies such as Airbnb. Research shows that 26% of people would use a Facebook log in if it was available on a hotel booking site.

Now you know what guests want to see throughout the payment process, but what about in general? What do people want from hoteliers when booking a room? We discovered the answer to this question in our Get a Room ebook. Click here to download.