Why E-Payments Needs a Good Search to Survive

When it comes to things that e-payments systems need, the idea of a search function doesn’t often show up on the list. Security, ease of use, a good connection to banks and plenty of venues ready to take the service usually top the list. However, search tools are actually more important to the continued health of the mobile payments market than you might expect.

While certainly, all these things are important, it’s a good search function that will really give e-payments a push. Why? Because a good search function is what’s going to give people the most rapid access to the things they most want to buy.

People use the search functions to find these things, and if the search function is falling down on the job, that reduces the overall effectiveness of the system and reduces the chance that people will come back and use e-payments in the first place. No one goes to a deli to buy tires, and no one goes to an auto parts store to buy postage stamps. If people can’t get the things they want in one location, they won’t come back.

The first thing the ideal search function needs is to understand the customer’s query to deliver the best and most relevant in search results. This in turn encourages the customer to complete the sale, believing that the thing found in the search is as close as possible to the desired item.

This isn’t always easy; sometimes even the customer isn’t a hundred percent sure just what he or she wants, so the search query has to be ready to accommodate this. Anyone who’s ever read a gadget blog and discovered some new something or other that they didn’t even know existed already understands this feeling.

Additionally, the search needs to make sure there are a sufficient number of results for the search query in question. Sometimes this isn’t necessary; carrying out a search for a DVD of “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” shouldn’t return results from the home improvement section-yes, I know the term “chainsaw” was right in the search; that doesn’t mean I want an actual chainsaw-but returning results from the book section, or the clothing section, or any licensed merchandise related to it, that’s different.

It’s also important to allow the search results to be further refined. For instance, a search for a “Windows notebook” might offer different brands, different screen sizes, different RAM counts, and a host of different possibilities. Allowing the user to refine the results further-just HP laptops, or just Dell laptops with a 15 inch display-is important.

Initially, though, the system should also take advantage of margins; if Samsung, for example, is providing the highest margin, then Samsung laptops should be displayed first to take advantage of consumers who aren’t quite sure, but will take whatever laptop is handy first off.

There are a lot of things to consider when building a proper search system for an e-commerce site, but it’s worth noting that the key point is to provide the best customer experience. The better the experience for the users, the more likely the users will be to return.

For mobile payments users this is especially important; not only do mobile payments have a great value for users in a brick-and-mortar business, but websites optimized for mobile users have a particular value since the user can use the same device to both shop for and pay for a particular item.

Threading the needle on the search function, meanwhile, will produce a better experience, and give users a reason to come back. It will also help give users a reason to tell their friends, and in the end, that means a lot of value for users…and for the online shops said users frequent.