Latest / Customer Journey with Fexingo: Touchpoints, Mapping, and Multi-Channel Marketing / The Touchpoint Where Customer Journey Maps Ignore the Payment Experience
Transcript
- Lucas: Alright, I want to talk about a touchpoint that almost every customer journey map I see simply skips over. And it's not some subtle micro-moment or a post-purchase survey — it's the moment someone actually hands over their money. Luna: You mean the checkout page? Lucas: Yes, but more specifically — the payment interaction itself. The screen where you enter your card number, choose a payment method, or authorize a wallet. I've been looking at a specific case: a subscription box company called, let's call it 'CurateBox' — they sell curated monthly boxes for pet owners. Luna: Oh, I think I've seen their ads. They have that cute dog in the unboxing video. Lucas: That's the one. So they had a pretty thorough journey map. They'd mapped awareness through social ads, consideration through their blog, the sign-up flow, the shipping confirmation — all standard. But they hadn't mapped the actual payment step. And when they finally audited it, they found a twelve percent revenue leak right there. Luna: Twelve percent? That's huge. What was going wrong? Lucas: It was a couple things. First, their payment page had a default drop-down for card type — Visa, Mastercard, Amex — but a lot of users didn't know which type their card was, or they'd select the wrong one and get an error. Second, they only offered credit card entry — no Apple Pay, no Google Pay, no PayPal. On mobile, which was about sixty percent of their traffic, that forced users to manually type sixteen digits on a tiny keyboard. Luna: Right, and that's when people start thinking, 'Is this site secure?' or 'Why is this taking so long?' Lucas: Exactly. They checked their analytics and saw a spike in abandonment on that exact screen. About one in eight people who started the payment flow never finished it. And they'd never connected that back to the payment experience because their journey map just had a single box called 'Checkout' — they assumed once someone hit 'Subscribe', the rest was frictionless. Luna: So they were losing subscribers without knowing why. What did they do about it? Lucas: They made three changes. First, they removed the card-type dropdown entirely — modern payment gateways detect it automatically. Second, they added Apple Pay and Google Pay buttons above the card form. Third, they simplified the form to just card number, expiry, and CVV — no billing address field unless the transaction flagged a mismatch. Luna: And the result? Lucas: Payment completion went up nine percentage points within two weeks. Their revenue from the same traffic basically grew by nine percent. All from a touchpoint they'd been ignoring. Luna: That's a pretty cheap fix for a big gain. But it also makes me wonder — why do journey mappers skip payment? It's literally the moment of conversion. Lucas: I think there are two reasons. One, payment is often owned by the engineering or finance team, not marketing or CX. So the journey mapping team doesn't have access to that user flow data. Two, there's an assumption that payment is a utility — it just works. But in reality, it's a moment of high anxiety for the customer. Luna: Yeah, I've definitely hesitated before hitting 'Confirm' on a new site. You're trusting them with your money and your data. Lucas: Exactly. And that trust moment is amplified if the design feels dated or if there's a weird error message. The CurateBox case showed that even small friction — like asking for card type — can break that trust. But there's another layer: the rise of digital wallets and buy now pay later options has changed customer expectations. Luna: So if you don't offer Klarna or Apple Pay, you might actually feel behind the times to some customers. Lucas: Right. A 2025 survey from PYMNTS found that fifty-three percent of consumers say they're less likely to complete a purchase if their preferred digital wallet isn't available. So the payment touchpoint isn't just about friction reduction — it's about signaling modernity and flexibility. Luna: That's a big stat. And it ties into something we've talked about before: the journey map needs to reflect the customer's emotional state, not just the functional steps. Lucas: Exactly. The payment step is emotionally loaded. There's excitement about the purchase, but also anxiety about security, about whether the product will deliver, about whether you're overspending. A good payment experience acknowledges that — with clear security badges, simple design, and maybe a reassuring message. Luna: And a bad one? Like, what's the worst payment experience you've had recently? Lucas: Oh, I had one last month with a small outdoor gear brand. I added a tent to my cart, went to checkout, and the page refreshed with an error saying 'Payment method not supported' — but it didn't tell me which methods were supported. I had to open a chat window, wait two minutes, and then find out they only accepted Visa and Mastercard. I almost abandoned the whole thing. Luna: And that's a tent — a high-consideration item. You were motivated. Imagine if it was a low-involvement purchase like a five-dollar e-book. Most people would just leave. Lucas: Precisely. So here's my point for today: when you're building or auditing a customer journey map, include the payment screen as a distinct touchpoint. Don't bury it under 'Checkout.' Look at the specific fields, the payment options offered, the error handling, the design on mobile versus desktop. And measure abandonment at that exact step. Luna: I think that's a really practical takeaway. I'm going to check our own payment flow this week. Lucas: You know, it's funny — we've done over a hundred episodes on journey mapping, and every time we think we've covered every touchpoint, someone writes in with a blind spot. And honestly, it's conversations like these that keep the show going. If these marketing deep dives have sparked something you've actually applied, a couple of dollars a month is genuinely what keeps these episodes ad-free and coming. You can find us at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Luna: Yeah, it's a small way to make sure we keep digging into the overlooked corners of customer experience. We really appreciate it. Lucas: So back to payment. The other trend I want to mention is recurring payments — subscription businesses like CurateBox need to map not just the first payment, but the renewal payment. That's a different emotional moment. Luna: Because the first payment is about excitement and trust, but the renewal is about value and habit. Lucas: Right. And many companies don't think about the renewal payment experience at all — it's just an automatic charge. But if the customer sees a charge on their statement that doesn't clearly say the company name, or if they don't receive a reminder, that can trigger churn. Some subscription businesses now send a 'Your box is being packed' email a few days before the charge, which primes the customer positively. Luna: That's smart. It turns a potentially negative surprise into an anticipated moment. Lucas: Exactly. So the payment touchpoint isn't one moment — it's a series of moments: the first entry, the confirmation, the statement appearance, the renewal. And each one should be mapped. Luna: I'm also thinking about the payment experience in physical retail. With contactless and tap to pay, that's a different kind of friction — or lack thereof. Lucas: Great point. In-store, the payment touchpoint is about speed and security. If a terminal takes too long to process, or if the customer has to sign a receipt, that can feel dated. Some retailers now let you pay via a QR code at the table — that's a whole journey mapping exercise right there. Luna: All right, so let's summarize: every journey map should include a dedicated payment touchpoint, broken into sub-steps, measured for abandonment, and optimized for trust and convenience. Lucas: That's the takeaway. And if you're redoing your map this quarter, start with the payment flow — especially on mobile. You might be surprised what you find. Luna: I'm already thinking about how to pitch this to our team. Thanks, Lucas. Lucas: Always a pleasure. See you next time.