Business technology checklist to help boost sales

Plus, the latest technology may help you offer new channels and revenue streams so you can thrive all year long.

In this business technology checklist, we'll help you uncover the strategies and tools to consider as you decide how to invest your IT budget.

Mobile-optimized website and online store

These days, it's critical to have a mobile-friendly website experience that features fast loading times and accessibility for shoppers both on PCs and their mobile devices. If you don't have a mobile-friendly website, users browsing your site on their smartphones and tablets may get frustrated and take their business elsewhere.

In fact, mobile ecommerce sales are expected to account for 43.4% of total retail ecommerce sales in 2023, with mobile ecommerce projected to be worth $534.18 billion.¹

Check to see that you have a mobile-optimized website that lets users quickly find information about your company or specific products, easily add products to the cart, and checkout without hassle. To that end, make sure you do everything possible to help customers find your site during a Google search.

Tip: Save this actionable technical SEO checklist and these search engine optimization tips to learn about the coding and content changes you may need to make to help your site rise to the top of the list.

Optimize your checkout process

If your checkout process is too complex, customers may get frustrated and abandon their cart. Not only does this cost you a sale, but customers are likely to go to a competitor to complete their transaction. If the competitor does a better job than you, they may gain a loyal customer while you lose untold opportunities for revenue.

An optimized checkout experience ensures your online customers can complete their transactions quickly and easily. By removing any potential barriers, you can reduce the risk of user frustration and cart abandonment. It can also help you comply with financial regulations and protect you and your customers against fraud.

Here are a few questions to ask yourself as you prioritize optimizing your checkout process:

• How many steps does your checkout process take?
• Are the instructions clear?
• Can the customer see their progress?
• Are you minimizing data entry with auto-fill tools?
• Is your customer being sent to another website to complete the transaction?
• Are you demonstrating how trustworthy your site is throughout the process?
• Is your checkout process compliant with the latest regulations?

Expand your digital payment option offerings

You can no longer just accept credit and debit cards if you want to improve customer experience KPIs. Instead, you many need to offer customers more payment options so that they can checkout using their preferred payment method.

Read more about customer financing options and touch-free payments like QR codes.

Invest in a point-of-sale system

Despite the rise of online shopping, many customers still value the in-store experience. Increase the speed and ease of your in-store experience by enabling your staff with point-of-sale hardware, along with the right point-of-sale software.

When evaluating your options, look for the following:

• A POS system that includes a card reader and tablet that runs on a cloud-based application, so employees can assist shoppers, look up information, and ring up sales on the go.
• The ability to easily integrate your inventory management system with your POS system so you can keep track of sales, identity bestsellers, and reorder inventory before you run out of stock.
• The option to accept touch-free payments.
• Integrated software that includes comprehensive analytics so you can make data-driven decisions about how to invest in your inventory.
• The ability to connect sales data from all your different locations and channels into one system for a holistic view of your business.

With the right POS system, you should be able to get the hardware and software you need to accept payments, track sales, and manage inventory all in one. Check out our What is a point-of-sale system? guide to learn more.

Expand self-service options

Customers expect to shop and buy on their terms. By expanding your self-service options, you give customers another way to purchase that provides the convenience of online shopping with the instant gratification of in-store shopping.

Advanced POS systems can usually be integrated with your ecommerce store so your in-store inventory can be displayed online. This makes it easy to offer options like curbside pickup without building a new sales and order fulfillment channel from scratch.

Every business is unique, so take the time to test the systems you use most. By optimizing and improving the technology that your business relies on.

Discover PayPal’s checkout options and integrations.