Buying Clothes Online Has Changed Forever | Pay It Forward with ASOS

In another e-commerce related episode of the Pay It Forward podcast with payabl. we chat to Bono Van Nijnatten from ASOS, about how the retail giant stays ahead in the dynamic payments industry.

We find out what’s behind their seamless checkout experience, the challenges of managing multiple payment systems and integrating increasingly popular BNPL products.

With insights on tech’s critical role in ASOS’s payment strategy, this episode offers a fascinating look into the future of ecommerce payments.

Minimising cart abandonment

Van Nijnatten, the General Manager of Payments at ASOS, is in the ideal position to uncover the secrets behind this retail giant’s payments operations. Managing commercial relationships and strategic initiatives surrounding payments at ASOS means he’s looking for the solutions that are going to create a better customer experience.

In the conversation he emphasises the importance of a seamless payment process to enhance this and therefore drive profitability. What is absolutely critical is minimising conversion loss, where customers abandon their virtual shopping carts at checkout. This can be caused by a number of issues but is incredibly common with the average cart abandonment rate sitting at 70%. It’s also essential, he says, to stay ahead of emerging payment trends.

Minimising complexity

Van Nijnatten goes on to explain that working in the payments industry requires constant vigilance and adaptation, as new payment methods continually emerge. He highlights the necessity of a measured approach, balancing the implementation of new trends with maintaining a streamlined and efficient checkout process. Personalization is important too, and tailored payment solutions and localised options can significantly enhance customer satisfaction. Your UK checkout may look quite different to other European countries.

The conversation also covers the backend complexities of orchestrating various payment systems for a large organisation like ASOS. He details the challenges and changes in the growing Buy now, Pay later (BNPL) landscape over the past five years, with giants like Klarna and Clearpay now being offered on many major online stores and contributing to a sector worth $260Billion. ASOS now offers multiple BNPL solutions in most of their operating countries but he stresses the importance of not overwhelming the checkout process with too many options, which can detract from the user experience.

Van Nijnatten goes on to explain the all too common strategic decisions involved in choosing between building in-house payment solutions and buying third-party services. He doesn’t go into too much detail but he does describe the tech-dependent nature of the business and how the payments department functions as an enabler for ASOS, allowing quick market entry and experimentation with different payment methods. This iterative approach ensures that ASOS can swiftly adapt to new markets and customer preferences without overcommitting resources.

Be sure to catch more of our Pay it Forward podcast episodes on our website.