The checkout is where sale-day money is won or lost. A slow page, a failed payment or a missing payment option costs you the sale after the customer has already decided to buy.
Offer the options shoppers use
Card payments alone won’t cover everyone. Many South African shoppers prefer instant EFT, and many like to spread the cost with buy now, pay later options. Offer card, instant EFT and at least one instalment option, and show them early on the product page. For more on choosing a provider, read our guide to payment gateways in South Africa.
Check your limits
Before the sale, ask your payment provider about:
- Transaction limits and daily caps.
- How they handle sudden spikes in volume.
- How fast failed payments are retried or reported.
If your limits are too low, raise them now, not on the day.
Reduce the steps
Every extra field costs sales. Offer guest checkout, auto-fill addresses where you can and remove anything you don’t need. Make sure the form works well on a phone.
Make errors clear
When a payment fails, say why in plain language and what to do next. “Your bank declined this card. Try another card or pay by instant EFT” saves the order.
Test it, with real money
A week before the sale, place real test orders for each payment method, on a phone, on mobile data. Check the confirmation email, the stock update and the order in your admin. Refund them afterwards.
Watch it on the day
Keep your payment provider’s status page open, and check your failed-payment count every hour. Spikes in failures usually mean a problem worth fixing straight away.
