The customer’s online journey has a series of micro-moments – log-ins, form fills, checkouts, payment authentication, and more. Any one of these going the wrong way could make the individual switch to another app or put their purchase off for later. That’s another abandoned cart, adding to the estimated worldwide 70% cart abandonment rates in 2023.
In the same journey, eCommerce also has a series of quite different micro-moments, points in the process where it must protect the business against fraud and comply with all the relevant regulations, such as age verification.
All these micro-moments must be carefully orchestrated, stripping them down to their simplest form. The solution for doing this comes from an unexpected quarter – digital identity verification. A seamless and easy-to-use digital identity verification solution can go beyond preventing fraud and become a strategic contribution to a successful customer journey.
So, how does digital identity do this?
Speeding up and consolidating account creation, log-ins, form filling, and checkout.
Account creation is a lengthy process. It’s often too much of an ask from a website to which they may or may not return. If they can put it off for later, they will. And if you insist, they will choose someone else. So, it needs to be slick and accurate.
OneID® offers solutions that allow customers to sign in to eCommerce stores and complete their onboarding without typing a single letter. That’s because OneID® is the UK’s only digital identity verification service that uses bank-verified information. That means customers can verify their identity and share their up-to-date information, such as name, age, and address, directly with the eCommerce store just by pressing the OneID® button. No laborious form fills. The business has verified the identity of the customer, managing the fraud risk.
OneID® can also automate the direct debit setup process – directly sharing the verified sort code and account number (with the customer’s consent) with the service provider. All this happens in a matter of seconds, without using any documents, without the customer having to do anything different, like searching for their card, etc.
Improve data quality and supercharge your CRM efforts.
We all know the importance of nurturing customer relationships. But for that, you need accurate and up-to-date data about your customer. That’s the problem with manually entered data – it’s prone to errors. On average, 65% of contact data generated from online web forms is invalid. Every year, 25-30% of data becomes inaccurate, leading to less effective sales and marketing campaigns. Businesses lose as much as 20% of their revenue due to poor data quality.
With a digital identity verification process that automatically populates forms, you could create a flawless customer data set, increasing the effectiveness and returns of your CRM initiatives.
Stronger age assurance
For eCommerce stores selling age-restricted products, ensuring they serve age-appropriate customers is crucial to staying compliant. Despite the legislation having been there for some time, many stores haven’t been able to implement effective age verification measures. Of the stores that have implemented strong measures, most are trying hard not to lose their shoppers when they look for a document with their age on it, scan it and get it cleared. In 2024, this process feels so archaic that even the 18+ and 21+ drop off.
A document-free age verification process that does not disrupt the journey can solve this problem. This is where open banking comes into play. Ofcom has rated open banking highly for age assurance. It eliminates the need for documents to verify age and shares the shopper’s age based on their bank records in a fast and secure way. OneID® is delivering a seamless journey for eCommerce stores on Shopify and WooCommerce, returning a definitive yes or no for 18+ or 21+ results – instantly.
Increase trust by showing your commitment to fighting fraud.
For all their readiness to abandon the cart because of the friction in their journey, your customers are aware of the growing fraud risks. Around 87% of adults have encountered online content that they suspected to be fraud. They recognise and appreciate businesses taking measures to secure their digital journey. One of the reasons why people abandon their cart is because they do not trust that site.
Integrating digital identity verification methods that simplify and secure customers' online transactions is a sign of the eCommerce store's commitment to caring about its customers. OneID® is highly effective in minimising the possibility of identity and payment fraud. Here’s how it works.
When an individual shopping on your eCommerce store needs to verify their identity, they press the OneID® button. The OneID® API links to their mobile or online banking – with their consent – and shares the details with your database. It eliminates the possibility of anyone sharing a stolen document, using stolen account details, etc., to defraud your customers. At the same time, it also protects your store from financial losses due to fraudulent sales, banks claiming back the reimbursements made to victims of fraud, and reputational damage when it occurs frequently.
Emulating the success of eSigning
Digital identity verification is building momentum in eSigning a document. It is a similar journey to eCommerce; the individual has done all the research and is at the final stage of the transaction with a decisive mind and just wants to sign the contract and get done with it.
An easy-to-use digital identity verification solution, like OneID®, has a high journey success rate and enhances the document's credentials with additional data sets about the signer. In Belgium, itsme – the leading digital identity verification service – has become part of their daily lives – from payments to shopping to healthcare and more. 62% of Belgians use itsme to verify their identity when signing documents digitally.
Uptake from eCommerce will speed up the UK’s journey.
A wider rollout of stronger and easier digital identity verification – no matter its form – is essential to securing the UK’s digital infrastructure. eCommerce platforms are one of the most frequent points of interaction for UK citizens. Protecting online shoppers can trigger a systemic change in the industry and the entire online community.
What makes us hopeful is the availability of affordable digital identity verification solutions in the market – that could be put to work in a matter of hours and produce results from day one.
The UK still has some way to go compared to countries like Belgium, Norway or Sweden, where digital identity verification has become part of their everyday interactions. For it to be engrained into how we behave online, eCommerce needs to offer UK citizens the most frictionless and easiest way to build a new online habit.
Open banking right now is the strongest way to do it.
