You’ve created a SaaS store you’re proud of, but will it be relevant a year from now?
Technology changes quickly, and it’s hard to keep up. How can you ensure that your SaaS store will be able to weather the advances in technology without falling behind your competitors? If you don’t address a few specific issues, there’s no guarantee that your store will survive.
Reason #1: Inefficient Checkout Process
When your customer decides to make a purchase from your site, how many steps are between the decision and the actual completed purchase? If your checkout process is overly complicated, roughly a quarter of users will abandon the product altogether rather than work through the many steps it takes to purchase the product. In fact, every unnecessary step in your checkout process could cost you around 10% of your customers— incorporate enough of these steps, and you’ll find yourself in big trouble.
Creating a streamlined checkout process will improve your conversion rate. When users are asked to leave the site to complete their checkout process, it’s likely that you’ll lose them before the process is complete. Automatically localizing the pricing to the user’s currency, offering a guest option for those who don’t want to create a user ID to log in, and offering users a seamless transition from the “Buy Now” or “Add to Cart” directly to a secure server will remove the roadblocks that prevent potential customers from completing their purchase. They’ll get the product they need, and your company will have the necessary revenue to continue to grow.
Reason #2: Poor Security Practices
Cybercrime is on the rise, and it’s estimated that $15 billion was stolen from 13.1 million consumers in the US. Security is more important than ever before, and if your SaaS store isn’t sufficiently protected, you could endanger your customers’ sensitive information and lose their business forever.
Ensuring that your SaaS store is completely secure rests on the shoulders of your ecommerce platform. A full-stack ecommerce solution will offer routine software updates and patches that will ensure that your security is impenetrable to the most current forms of attack. An outdated or unresponsive platform could leave your customers vulnerable to attack and erode the trust you’ve built with them over time. Loyal customers improve profitability more than just about anything else, so it pays to protect them.
Reason #3: Failure to Go Global
If your store isn’t equipped to handle international business, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity for growth. It’s projected that SaaS businesses will make $46.3 million globally in 2017, with increased growth over the next few years. Failure to take part in this growing market is shortsighted at best, and potentially devastating at worst.
Does your store automatically convert to the currency of the user’s country? Can your ecommerce platform handle the taxes associated with a variety of nations, including the EU’s VAT (Value Added Tax)? Is your store’s content translated into the language of the user’s home? Do the landing pages and website associated with your store cater to non-English speakers, too? If the answer is no, you should consider incorporating localization into your store to increase your global reach.
The right ecommerce platform will ensure that your SaaS store is “future-proof,” saving you from potential obsolescence. Curious to see what FastSpring can do for you? Click here to sign up for a free FastSpring account today.