Amplify your

online presence
5 secrets to success

www.klarna.com/us
Amplify your
online presence
5 Secrets to success

The world of retail is changing and customers are spending

more time (and money) online. Unsurprisingly competition is
fierce, with merchants fighting for the same customers.
The best way to combat these threats is to create a next-gen
eCommerce experience for shoppers. So, what do you need to
know to amplify your online commerce?

Whether you’re just starting out, or trying to make your

existing online store more successful, here are our top 5
suggestions to help your business stand out from the crowd.

“ To create a seamless purchasing

experience, you need to have smooth
“
processes running behind the scenes.

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 1 Love your
customer
Your customer is at the center of
everything you do. As the owner of a
growing business, you’ve probably
already learned this lesson – after all,
no one returns to stores where
they’ve received bad service.
Even if you’re starting out in business for the
first time, you know from personal experience
what great service feels like.

From the earliest stages of planning your online store, customers must be the focus of every
decision you take. You also need to make sure that the online shopping experience is as seamless
and enjoyable as possible.

Online shoppers Goldfish

Attention spans.
Online shoppers have extremely short attention
spans, so the easier it is to buy your products,
the more likely they are to complete a sale. One

08:25 09:00 study found that internet users have an attention

span of just 8.25 seconds (i). Not only is this less
SECONDS SECONDS
than a goldfish (9 seconds!), but that represents
all the time you have to capture your customer’s
attention.

Outstanding customer service is a powerful sales tool in the ultra-competitive

online market. For instance, 40% of customers began shopping with a
competitor, because they heard about the company’s good customer service (ii).

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1 Love your
customer
To create a seamless purchasing experience, you need
to have smooth processes running behind the scenes.
Whether you own a bricks-and-mortar shop, or
you’re online-only, it’s important that you spend
time thinking about your perfect shopping process,
and identifying bottlenecks – those points where
everything slows down, or becomes annoying.
Mapping the checkout process out in this way will
help to give your shoppers a better experience.

“ To create a seamless purchasing

experience, you need to have smooth
“
processes running behind the scenes.

If you already have a physical retail shop, you should also think about how the
online shopping process aligns with the processes you use in store. An online
store should make your life easier too. If your eCommerce processes add
significantly to your workload, they probably aren’t quite right.

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 2 Be wildly
passionate
Passion is infectious – and a great way
to engage would-be customers. Your
enthusiasm helps to convince shoppers that
you know what you’re talking about – and
that your recommendations can be trusted.
The same is true of your online store. Every webpage needs to
convey your passion for your products and your customers. From
the pictures and text, to the payment and checkout process – it all
needs to convey that same excitement.

Emotions beat information.

Research published in Psychology Today suggests that
customers “primarily use emotions (personal feelings and
experiences) rather than information (brand attributes,
features, and facts)” when making purchasing decisions (iii).
So if your enthusiasm makes shoppers connect emotionally,
you stand a far better chance of boosting sales.

“ Passion is an effective sales tool because

it isn’t artificial and can’t be faked for
a long period of time. It is displayed in
people who genuinely care and are willing
to take the time to serve their customers
“
in whatever manner is necessary.
High-Profit Selling: Win the Sale Without Compromising on Price Mark Hunter (iv)

Even if you’ve never run an online shop before,

this passion will help carry your business forward.

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3 Build trust, build
relationships,
build profit
On a purely financial level, your best customers are
those who keep coming back. You can’t argue with
the figures either – repeat business accounts for
around 26% of online sales. It will also cost you 700%
more to replace an existing client with a new one (v).

26% 700%
Online sales
is repeat business More cost required
to replace an existing
customer with a new one

Brand loyalty is notoriously difficult to build – especially if you’re a brand-new

business. But like all relationships, everything relies on trust. If customers
know they can get the products they want, when they want, backed by a high
quality of personalized support, they will also know they can trust you.

“ The trust that a customer has in your company

and in you strongly outweighs the techniques
“
you use to sell. Establishing trust is better than
any sales technique.
Mike Puglia VP of Marketing at TimeTrade (vi)

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3 Build trust, build
relationships,
build profit
Building relationships online involves a lot of listening, and the occasional
injection of relevant information. According to research by consultancy We
Are Flint, 86% of the US population use social media. (vii).

Your eCommerce marketing plan needs
to “listen” to social media to learn what
people are saying about your brand, your
products and trends in your space. This
will help you discover opportunities to
demonstrate great service outside the
normal sales cycle – or make things right
when something goes wrong.
You can engage with customers where they
are, sharing your skills and tips to further
enhance their experience – and helping to
emphasize your passion for your niche. And
with 36% of younger shoppers conducting
product research on social networks (viii),
there’s a much better chance of them finding
your business if you are active there.

For every
86% 36% $1 spent
of the population of younger shoppers
research products on email marketing
use social media
on social networks businesses saw an
average ROI of $44 (ix)

Email also remains an excellent way to stay
in touch with customers and prospects when
used properly. The 2018 Email Marketing
Industry Census from Econsultancy questioned
businesses across the world about their
experiences with email. 74% of respondents
agreed that email offered an excellent or good
return on their investment (x).
Regular updates about new product lines,
special offers or general industry news will
keep your regular customers hooked – and an
email is a great way to remind them your brand
exists. Remember, online shoppers have short
attention spans (and terrible memories).

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 4 Focus on your
strengths,
outsource the
rest to experts
Running a successful business requires a lot of
your attention, and a broad range of skills. Although
you can probably struggle through alone, the service
you are able to provide to customers will suffer.

An effective website has

multiple components
that must work together
to create an exceptional Instead, you need to build a
customer experience. network of experts who can take
over key tasks, freeing you to focus
on what you do best.
If you’ve never built an eCommerce
website before, it makes sense to
partner with someone who has!

Work with experts

FOCUS ON WHAT YOU DO BEST
Take web design for instance. More than simply being a “pretty” face for your
business online, web design is also concerned with making the shopping experience
as smooth and intuitive as possible. Poorly optimized design makes it harder for
shoppers to find what they want – and they won’t wait around if they run into problems.

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4 Focus on your
strengths, outsource
the rest to experts
Similarly, the IT systems that run your website need to be
robust and resilient, so your store is available 24x7x365.
Even if you arrange your own web hosting package with an
ISP direct, do you have the skills required to integrate digital
marketing tools, like email shots and social media? Or popular
eCommerce platforms like Amazon and Google Shopping?

“ Are you 100% confident

in the design and tech “
behind your online shop?

If you are less than 100% confident in your web design and
technical skills, you must choose a partner who can deliver
the site your customers need.

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 Rock solid 5
payment processing
27% of failed transactions occur because
shoppers find the checkout process too
complicated (xi). Your choice of payment partner
for the checkout is crucial to keeping these
people engaged – and converting their sale.

Just like the rest of your website, the checkout process has
to be as simple and smooth as possible. If your customer
gets confused, they will abandon their cart and click over to
a competitor’s site instead. 51% of shoppers give up if they
can’t get through the checkout without help (xii).

of failed transactions

27% occur because shoppers

find the checkout process
too complicated

Your payment gateway needs to be safe and secure

to protect your customers’ sensitive data, like card
numbers. IT security is notoriously complicated, so
you will need to partner with a provider who really
knows what they are doing when it comes to keeping
information safe from loss or theft.

Factors like SSL certificates and PCI DSS compliance only help to build the
trust your customers need to complete a purchase.

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5 Rock solid
payment processing
Your payment provider also needs to offer a
range of payment methods to ensure you can
sell to the widest possible customer base.
Along with the ability to process all types of credit and debit
cards, your site should be able to accept payments from
popular digital wallets like PayPal.

Klarna’s online checkout and payments service

is proven to reduce abandoned baskets. Mobile-
optimised, our checkout reduces steps on the path
to purchase and converts browsers into buyers.

85% of online shoppers say Klarna’s checkout offers

a better user experience than other providers. And
Klarna takes on all the risk, ensuring you receive
payment immediately and protecting you against
card chargebacks and customers who fail to pay.

85%
of online shoppers say
Klarna’s checkout offers
a better user experience
than other providers

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5 Rock solid
payment
processing
With Klarna as your checkout and payments provider, you
can do all of the above and also offer Pay later and Slice it:

Klarna’s Pay later lets shoppers buy goods and pay for them
up to 30 days later. All with no upfront fees or interest for the
shopper. Let your customers try before they buy with no risk
to you. Klarna always pays the merchant immediately.

Finally, Klarna’s Slice it allows shoppers to pay over time for

bigger ticket items with flexible monthly installments. With
multiple formats and payment plans there is a Slice it to fit
all needs.

NEW!
Slice it in 4
Free short-term installments that give consumers
the ability to pay over time for their purchases,
with no added cost or hassle. Four equal payments
are automatically collected bi-weekly from the
consumer’s own debit or credit card. All the “closure”
of a full upfront payment, with the purchase power
and cash flow benefits of spreading the cost.

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6 Putting it all together
eCommerce success is a combination of technique,
technology and trust. You shouldn’t have to do it all
on your own.

Partnering with Klarna offers you
the technical services to maximize
the potential of your online store.
Klarna’s payment services use simple
transparent pricing, and can be quickly
and easily integrated into your website.
So, you don’t have to be an online expert
to amplify and monetize your online store.

Built for retail businesses.

With Klarna, you gain access to everything you need to manage

all aspects of online payments and our proactive, US-based
support team are there to help whenever you need it.

No matter the size and scope of your eCommerce ambitions,

Klarna can help you reach your goals.

Speak to a Klarna specialist today

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 References

i. Attention span statistics - National Center for Biotechnology Information

http://www.statisticbrain.com/attention-span-statistics/
ii. Customer Experience Is More Important Than Advertising – Business2Community
http://www.business2community.com/customer-experience/customer-experience-important-
advertisinginfographic-0726258
iii. How Emotions Influence What We Buy – Psychology Today
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/inside-the-consumer-mind/201302/how-emotions-
influence-whatwe-buy
iv. High-Profit Selling: Win the Sale Without Compromising on Price – Mark Hunter
https://thesaleshunter.com/resources/articles/sales-motivation/passion-as-a-sales-tool/
v. The ROI from Marketing to Existing Online Customers – Adobe
http://success.adobe.com/assets/en/downloads/whitepaper/13926.digital_index_loyal_shoppers_report.pdf
vi. 62 Sales Tips and Sales Quotes from Top Sales Experts – Salesforce.com
https://www.salesforce.com/blog/2013/10/62-sales-tips-and-sales-quotes-from-top-sales-experts.html
vii. Social Media 2018 Main Findings – We Are Flint
https://weareflint.co.uk/main-findings-social-media-demographics-uk-usa-2018
viii. 36% of 16-24s use social media for product research – Global Web Index
http://www.globalwebindex.net/blog/36-percent-of-16-24s-use-social-media-for-product-research
ix. The 2016 Annual Email Marketing Report – Campaign Monitor
https://www.campaignmonitor.com/company/annual-report/2016/
x. 2018 Email Marketing Industry Census – Econsultancy
https://content.adestra.com/hubfs/2018_Reports_and_eGuides/Econsultancy-2018-Email-Marketing-
Industry-Census.pdf
xi. 37 Cart Abandonment Rate Statistics – Baymard Institute
https://baymard.com/lists/cart-abandonment-rate
xii. The Connecting With Customers Report – LivePerson
https://www.liveperson.com/connected-customer/posts/ideal-online-experience-what-it-takes-consumers-
click-not-abandon?_ga=2.15078079.841650262.1536656787-1266847153.1536656787

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