In this presentation, discover everything you need to know about payment methods when selling cross-border, particularly in Europe. Lengow reveals the best ecommerce practices for you to put in place to optimise your cross-border sales strategy and boost sales.

1. Online cross-border sales in
Europe
What is the effect on payment methods?

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Why is the issue of payment so important?
Why is payment important?
An appropriate payment method can help with some of the challenges of
cross-border e-commerce: gaining internet users’ trust and optimising the
purchasing process.
Payment is one of the main elements which determines
whether an online shopper buys a product or not.

3. Appropriate currency can
reassure the customer and
encourage them to complete a
purchase.
The choice of currency
Giving consumers the option to
pay in local currency will
increase sales figures.
1. 2.

4. The choice of currency is a strategic one, but
even more so in Europe, where the Euro mixes with local currency
Europe
Retailers should therefore use the currency that fits best with their objectives. However, it
is important to take into account the two issues that come with offering different
currency types:
Consumers can compare
prices between countries and
competitors more easily.
Exchange rate fluctuations
can have a real impact on
sales.

5. Payment Methods
The most used payment option is
bank card.
In Europe, bank cards represent
72% of transactions.
You must not forget national
preferences. If you do not provide a
country’s preferred payment method,
you risk losing potential customers.
After bank card, the second most
popular method is e-wallet (PayPal
or local players such as Sofort or
iDeal).

6. Examples: UK and the Netherlands
88% - Visa / Mastercard
10% - PayPal
3% - American Express
60% - iDEAL
14% - SEPA Direct Debit
18% - Mastercard / Visa
4% - Invoicing

7. Examples: France and Germany
88% - Visa / Mastercard
16% - PayPal
3% - Carte Bleue
3% - American Express
35% - SEPA Direct Debit
16% - Sofort / Giropay
15% - Invoicing
24% - Visa / Mastercard / Amex
10% - Paypal

8. Payment: A key element
In short…
Choosing the best payment methods for cross-
border online sales is a complex process which
has to be analysed and integrated into a
retailer’s overall strategy.
It is important to stay up to date with the
latest payment method developments and
learn how to use them to optimise the
purchasing process. If you do so, conversion
rates won’t be impacted by new
developments.

9. Payment & Mobile
of time on the Internet is
spent using a mobile device.60%
However, only15% of transactions
are made using a mobile device.
There are normally more payment
methods offered on desktop websites
than mobile-friendly sites, as well as
different browsing behaviour.
Best practice:
• Make sure visitors do not waste time
scrolling.
• Do not add too many pages or steps.
• Add the option of one-click payment.
• Shorten the payment process.
• Do not redirect customers: payment
should be carried out on the same
platform as browsing.
• Do not include pop-ups.
Why?

10. Managing the risk of fraud
One of the main barriers to purchase is fear of fraud. This fear is
even more of a problem when dealing with cross-border sales.
Fear of fraud has a significant negative impact on conversion rates.
Security expectations vary from country to country, so you should
adapt strategy and payment methods accordingly.

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Discover our whitepaper
To find out more about the
features and challenges of
selling cross-border in
Europe, download our
whitepaper!

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