The customer life cycle can usually be broken down into 3 basic stages. Acquisition. Conversion. Retention. her is some advice, ideas and thoughts focusing on selling digital products and the subscription business model, often based on a membership or software as a service type of product.

Conversions

One of the most important aspects of a subscription business model is conversions. Simplified, the definition of a conversion is when a prospect becomes a customer. They may be visiting your website to purchase a digital product or they could be converting from a free, limited account to a being a customer of your full featured, paid product. One of the most predominant hurdles for ecommerce conversions is the process of collecting consumer payment data and processing their payment. The Holy Grail of conversions is to deliver a smooth payment process with the least amount of friction possible, while balancing the need to collect sensitive payment and contact information from the consumer to help manage risk and protect against potential fraudulent transactions. Here are some basic things to keep in mind when evaluating how you can sell products online:

Consistency

When a consumer is initiating the payment process, consider the entire user experience. Hosted checkout pages are great for allowing merchants to accept payments without the time and expense of collecting credit card data on their site and meeting the requirements of PCI and security compliance. The hosted checkout page should clone the interface of your website as much as possible. Page layouts, background and element colors, branding, tag lines and logos, font type, size and colors, button graphics… Visually the process of landing on a hosted payment page should be smooth and consistent with previous pages to ensure the consumer’s confidence at their most critical and fragile moments, when they are going to provide you with some of their most guarded, sensitive information.

Convenience

Previously submitted data, like name and email address should be pre-populated on the payment form, providing the convenience of not having to re-enter this information. Displaying this information in the form communicates that this is the information being submitted for processing their payment and that the information can be easily edited and revised by the user.

No Distractions

The consumer should either be provided a simple choice and allowed to select their preferred payment method or taken directly to a one-page form to collect credit card data. The least number of pages, with the least amount of choices and forms with the least amount of required form fields to be typed creates less friction and distraction to task at hand. Often there is an advantage to offer local or alternative payment methods, but it's important to not clutter the interface and confuse the consumer with choices that are not available in their region or they are not familiar with.

Product Description

On the page with the payment form should be a description of the product or service being purchased, details regarding future recurring payments and links to terms of use, privacy and security policies.

Feedback

Once submitted, payment form feedback should be clear and concise, displaying distinct error messages, suggesting required formatting or syntax. When the consumer clicks the button to submit their payment details they want confirmation that the data has been "accepted" by a familiar progress bar or "please wait" type message. Once payment has been processed the consumer should see a confirmation, that the transaction has been processed and they have been charged, including any details regarding future automated recurring billings. Payment support contact information should be displayed along with “Thank You” messages. An email receipt should be sent that includes all transaction information (other than full payment data) and clear subscription cancelation instructions.

Seamless

The Checkout process should be a simple, clear and consistent visual experience and on the thank you page, the consumer should be provided a link to return to continue browse the vendor website, or enjoy their purchase, filled with confidence in their purchasing experience. When online shoppers are confronted with a checkout experience that is visually inconsistent with their shopping experience they get distracted. When they are offered too many choices, more than one form on a page or when they don't receive feedback about errors, they get confused. When they aren't sure about if they got charged, how to get support, what exactly they purchased or what future payments they agreed to, they lose confidence. Avoiding these common mistakes will bring you a smooth, frictionless payment process to increase your conversions and get more paying customers.