The new purchase trends you can’t miss for Black Friday 2024 (and beyond)
With the rapid growth of e-commerce, there is an increasing need for seamless, secure, and convenient shopping experiences, both online and offline. In this article, we will explore the most relevant trends in modern purchase habits and share insights from our experience with merchants to help you address these shifts. Our goal is to assist you in optimizing your sales strategies by creating purchasing processes that cater to the needs of today’s consumers. With events like Black Friday and other peak seasons approaching, now is the perfect time to implement your ideas and ensure your business stays ahead of the curve.
New consumer buying behaviors and payment tips for adapting to them
Click and Collect
Click and collect, popularized during the pandemic, allows consumers to shop online and pick up their purchases at a store. Users can also try on items, exchange them, or add to their cart while there. As online and offline shopping converge, click and collect highlights consumer preferences for navigating sales channels. Customers can shop in-store and have items delivered home, or try products in-store and purchase online, often balancing convenience with price.
How can you help facilitate this seamless transition between channels as a merchant?
- The key is to create an experience where the consumer is almost “unaware” that they’ve selected a product online and completed the purchase offline. Guide them seamlessly through all your touchpoints by consistently providing high standards of quality, safety, and service. Consider offering a customer care service that can identify and assist them both online and in-store. Or imagine that their accounts, personal data, and payment preferences are accessible whenever and wherever they choose to shop. Ultimately, the goal is to establish a consistent and uniform customer journey. This approach not only makes each customer feel valued as an individual, but also enhances your brand's image and popularity.
Seeking customized offers
Modern consumers are not only increasingly discerning about their purchases, considering product quality, origin, and manufacturing processes. They are also more receptive to getting personalized offers based on their preferences, previous purchases, or items left in their shopping carts.
Did you know that if you manage multiple sales channels, you can support their desire for customization and entice them to shop? It all starts with getting to know them!
How can you understand your customers better? The answer is simple! If you operate both online and offline stores and partner with a payment service provider that offers the tools for a true omnichannel setup, you’re on the right track. In a comprehensive omnichannel system, like the one we provide to our merchants, all payment data from different sales channels is integrated into a single dashboard. This allows merchants to gain valuable insights into their business performance—both online and offline—as well as detailed information about their customers.
Offer more value to your repeat customers, enabling you to send them offers and promotions that align with their needs and preferences. Additionally, it allows you to identify your most loyal customers, whom you can reward with special loyalty campaigns designed just for them.
This is an excellent starting point for planning your campaigns for Black Friday and other peak seasons, don’t you think?
Increasingly fast purchases
Some consumers enjoy exploring catalogs or browsing in-store displays at their own pace, while others come with a specific item in mind, completing their purchases quickly. Regardless of the category your customers fall into, it’s essential to offer fast and frictionless payment processes. How can you achieve this?
Optimize your e-commerce checkout by seamlessly integrating the payment process to minimize customer redirection and showcasing the best payment methods for each transaction. Keep your platform and plugins updated for enhanced performance and security. Using a reliable payment provider, like MultiSafepay, can also streamline authentication and overall payment flow. There are many strategies to simplify online purchases for your users. With the right payment partner, implementing these solutions is easy. Start by checking out this article!
Speed up in-store payments too! Entering a crowded store—especially during busy times like Black Friday or the holiday season—and seeing a long queue at the checkout can be discouraging for customers, leading some to abandon before buying.
Reduce counter queues even more by complementing stationary terminals with mobile payment options, suitable for on-the-go payments. You’ll benefit not only your customers but also your employees. They can assist customers anywhere in the store, rather than being confined to the checkout counter. This approach will reduce wait times, create happier customers, and ease the stress on your staff. What better way to navigate a peak season?
Additionally, we cannot overlook the significant segment of users who prefer to buy via their smartphones.
What specific measures should you take to win over mobile lovers?
Integrate digital wallets! Solutions like Apple Pay, Google Pay, WeChat Pay, and Alipay+ allow customers to complete purchases with just a few clicks, making them some of the most mobile-friendly payment options available. These digital wallets securely store sensitive information, including credit card details, ensuring easy access for future transactions. This streamlined process means customers won’t waste time re-entering their information, allowing them to finalize payments quickly. Satisfied customers are more likely to return and shop again on your site—guaranteed!
To further maximize your mobile sales, consider solutions like Hyva Checkout and GraphQL-based integrations. These tools enhance performance and deliver a faster, more intuitive, and personalized shopping experience, ultimately leading to increased conversions and greater customer satisfaction. Want to learn more? Check out our page on Progressive Web Applications and dedicated solutions like Hyva.
Freedom to pay with one's preferred payment method
Ease and speed in completing a purchase rely heavily on the convenience of using a customer’s preferred payment method. Offering a diverse mix of payment solutions that cater to the needs of your target audience is essential for ensuring fast and efficient transactions that align with the expectations of modern consumers. This is particularly important if you plan to sell abroad, and especially during Black Friday and other peak sales seasons. Here’s what you need to do:
Go Local! If your goal is to expand internationally, it's essential to incorporate the payment solutions preferred by local consumers into your mix. Enhance your checkout experience with options like Bizum for Spanish customers, Multibanco and MB Way for Portuguese shoppers, or iDEAL for the Dutch market. The list goes on and on, as we offer our merchants over 45 local and international payment methods, to help them create the ideal checkout for each user. Consumers feel much more comfortable on an e-commerce site, especially if it’s their first visit, when they see familiar payment options. So, be prepared to earn their trust!
In addition to traditional payment methods, don’t forget to include in your checkout alternative options like Digital Wallets, Buy Now, Pay Later, and vouchers. These solutions are not only essential at checkout but are also becoming increasingly popular for in-store payments.
Leverage online experiences offline! When it comes to in-store payments, did you know that you can offer multiple payment methods in your physical shop as well? Choose modern POS devices that uphold high standards of technology and innovation, aligning with current consumer purchasing trends. These devices support a wide range of payment options, including the ones mentioned earlier (digital wallets, Buy Now, Pay Later, etc.) creating an efficient and convenient shopping experience both online and offline. Additionally, these devices cater to the demand for speedy in-store purchases by offering payment methods such as QR codes and NFC contactless technology.
What do you think of the solutions we've proposed? Would you like a payment system that can better accommodate the purchase trends of modern consumers, especially during peak occasions like Black Friday? If so, contact us today to discover how you can make a difference!
