Recognized companies include Elavon, JPMorgan Chase, Square, CSG Forte, Fortis, and Shopify.
TSG (The Strawhecker Group), a globally recognized analytics, intelligence, and solutions-focused firm in the payments industry, is pleased to recognize a selection of payments companies for their exceptional start-up, small and medium-sized (SMB) eCommerce merchant experience.
“Taking on the persona of a small business helps us guide clients to understand the pain points that their prospective merchants may be facing,” says Mike Strawhecker, President of TSG. “It’s a priority for those that serve ecommerce merchants to understand how they stack up and identify areas of improvement. The merchant doesn’t care where the issue may be, whether it is coming from the web hosting company, the shopping cart provider, the payment gateway, or the merchant acquirer. What they care about is a seamless experience when becoming a card accepting merchant,” added Strawhecker.
Leveraging its Gateway Enterprise Metrics (GEM) platform, TSG assesses the small and medium-sized business (SMB) perspective of the ease of online card acceptance. Powered by the firm’s Market Intelligence product, TruShop*, providers are measured and benchmarked across several categories from the merchant’s point of view.
Payments acceptance is typically an afterthought for businesses rushing to build their online presence. As such, they seek a quick, streamlined process to expand their digital footprint and easily take payments. Leading payments providers support merchants with a comprehensive solution, from website creation to taking their first order and beyond.
Key findings from some of the industry’s leading merchant experiences:
- 57% of providers analyzed provided the option of an online application that was accessible without human interaction, compared to 42% in 2021.
- Surcharging is not just for card-present merchants. For the first time in the history of this annual assessment, a surcharging pricing quote was given for a card-not-present merchant.
- The average amount of unique underwriting checks required by the payment processor on a merchant application or for the merchant’s website was 19 in 2022 compared to 21 In 2021.
- For 2022, TSG chose the profile of an SMB personal services merchant with slightly higher annual volumes and lower total transactions than the retail merchant profile utilized last year. While several other factors (such as industry) can play a factor in pricing quotes received, in 2022 the average first-year All-In Effective rate that a merchant would be expected to pay for website/processing expenses was 3.25% compared to 4.11% in 2021.
TSG evaluated industry-leading payments providers during September 2022 to determine the eCommerce Merchant Experience Awards. This study only covers a specific type of merchant, obtained through a specific sales channel, during a specific time period.
The eCommerce Merchant Experience Awards
Ease to Launch
The Ease to Launch award reflects the time, effort, and complexity for a start-up eCommerce SMB, from building its website to accepting online payments.
Square is receiving this award for the fourth year in a row due to its leading performance across building a website with a shopping cart, its streamlined application and underwriting process, and low estimated annual costs.
Runner-Up: Shopify
Best Sales Process
The Best Sales Process award encompasses the format, length, and delivery method of the merchant application, as well as underwriting scrutiny of website and company information based upon required items.
JPMorgan Chase is receiving this award for the second year in a row due to its streamlined, low-touch online application process that ensures a smooth and quick underwriting process for SMB merchants.
Runner-Up: CSG Forte
Best Human Interaction
The Best Human Interaction award signifies the personal interaction and responsiveness of sales individuals through email and phone conversations.
Elavon is receiving this award for its sales team’s knowledge and passion for payments, while being responsive to ensure a smooth experience.
Runner-Up: Fortis
TSG can help you evaluate, benchmark, and improve your merchant experience. Payments companies that use GEM to monitor and improve this process can increase merchant signups by 7% or more. Contact TSG to learn more about joining the GEM platform.
*About TSG’s TruShop: TSG partners with merchants to help its clients make changes to create better experiences and solutions. By leveraging real merchant data, TruShop can reconstruct, record, and improve sales and customer interactions to help leadership craft the perfect merchant experience.
Companies and/or products considered for any TSG awards may or may not include clients of TSG and does not necessarily represent all companies or products in the market. This analysis is based upon information we consider reliable, but its accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed. Information provided is not all inclusive. All information listed is as available as of October 2022. TSG is not and/or may not be endorsed, sponsored by, or in any other way affiliated with the any companies or their logos illustrated. The trademarks shown are registered and their own. This document has not been prepared by any entity displayed.