Split payment as a group at checkout with Hands In

Abandoned carts can be caused by a lack of split payment options

We’ve all probably been the ‘lead booker’ on a trip. So, we all know what an inconvenience it can be. It can feel awkward to chase your friends for funds and can leave you strapped for cash while you wait. It can be enough to put people off making bookings as groups altogether.

This is a growing problem for online merchants in high-ticket industries such as air travel or hospitality, as without people paying as a group, they’re missing out on higher average order values and increased revenues. We've seen instances where proportions of groups are going to competitive alternatives to facilitate payment rather than booking all on one site.

Not only this, but when split payments aren’t available at the checkout, abandoned cart rates will inevitably be higher- especially for the travel and hospitality industries targeting Gen Z customers. While Gen Z typically aren’t the highest earners, they are travelling a lot. According to one study, the highest proportion of travellers (leisure trips 3+ times per year) earn $50k or under.  Gen Z travellers also use technology to help them save on travel-62% of Gen Z, in fact. Hence, technology to help spread the cost will add to their user experience. Additionally, in the top three reasons that influence the payment method people choose, ease of use ranks in second place with 21%. Therefore, an easy-to-use split payment method to ease the financial burden of travel is a no-brainer when aiming to facilitate more successful checkouts- for Gen Z and beyond.

How do Hands In’s Group Payments help with this?

Hands In’s Group Payments overcome the hurdles that high basket value industries face when it comes to facilitating payments with several individuals contributing. Abandoned carts are reduced and user satisfaction rises along with repeat business with the following four steps:

1. The lead booker clicks on the option at checkout to split the payment as a group.

2. Each group member is invited by the lead booker to join the transaction. This can be via text, email, or by sharing a link for payment. You can also tailor the time limit for payment to suit the needs of your business and customers.

3. Each group member then joins via the booking window, paying their share. They get alerts if group members drop out and can pay other group members’ shares if needed.

4. Hands In captures the funds, transferring them straight into an online merchant’s connected payment infrastructure. We always accommodate for dynamic pricing, so your customer is always charged the correct price.
   

What about installments?

We also provide the ability for consumers to pay later for our services. So, your customers don't have to pay right on the spot. This means that you get all the innovative features of Hands In innovations, but also all the valuable features of more traditional ‘Buy Now Pay Later’ checkout integrations.

How do Group Payments enrich your marketing strategies?

Hands In’s group payments not only improve your conversion rates and revenues, but it also captures more data profiles for your database, informing your user personas and boosting your marketing. This is because Group Payments uncovers hidden buyers, whose data you never would have had access to without split payments being available at checkout. On average, we’ve been able to capture eleven times the amount of customer data profiles normally captured for our clients.

Whether your primary aim is to generate repeat business, spread knowledge of your business through word of mouth, or to simply increase the value of your transactions, having as many detailed customer profiles as possible is instrumental in this.

Sharing links for payment or group checkout options aren’t widespread yet, so incorporating these into your eCommerce function will give you an edge over your competition, especially in the travel and hospitality market.

You can also present Group Payments at checkout as your own USP, as Hands In offer whitelabelling for the Group Payments checkout function. Therefore, your brand becomes synonymous with innovation.

Don’t just take our word from it, hear from one of our clients who has seen a boost in their user experience with our group payments checkout function:

"Hands In have been fantastic to deal with. We deal with different groups of people every week for different events and this system makes it so seamless for the customer to pay as a group. Their platform is exactly what we need here at Visit Carlingford. "

We're showing ambitious companies, including Visit Carlingford and Air Europa, how Group Payments can transform their online checkout experience. Interested? Book a demo with the Hands In team today.