The 5 key KPIs to track your payment performance

In the hyper-competitive world of e-commerce, every detail counts. While purchasing journeys are pixel-perfect and acquisition strategies are finely tuned, the payment stage remains a blind spot for many e-merchants. Yet, when mastered, payments become a powerful lever to increase revenue, reduce costs, and improve the customer experience.  

Nearly 70% of shopping carts are abandoned. Among the reasons cited: doubts about payment security, unavailability of a preferred payment method, a declined card, or a checkout process that is too long or complex. This clearly illustrates the direct impact a poor payment experience can have on your conversion rate.  

The key to reversing this trend? Data-driven management. Your payment data is a goldmine for understanding your customers and optimizing your performance. Tracking the right metrics allows you to continuously adjust, test, and improve your payment strategy.  

Discover the 5 key metrics to monitor to turn your payment process into a true growth engine.

1. The 5 key KPIs to manage your payment performance

Understanding and tracking these metrics is fundamental to an effective payment strategy:

KPI 1: Overall conversion rate (merchant view)

Definition : This is the proportion of users who complete a purchase (with a successful payment) compared to the total number of visitors to your site. It is the macro indicator of the effectiveness of your entire sales funnel.  

Why it is crucial: It measures the overall effectiveness of your e-commerce, from attracting the visitor to confirming the order. It is the ultimate reflection of your commercial success.

KPI 2: Payment conversion rate (orchestrator/PSP view)

Definition: Specific to payments, this is the number of customer journeys with a successful payment compared to the number of customer journeys that reached the payment page. It is an essential indicator for evaluating the performance of the final stage of the funnel.  

Why it is crucial: Unlike the overall conversion rate often tracked by merchants, this KPI focuses on the effectiveness of the payment phase itself. It helps identify whether friction, payment options, or security are acting as barriers at the most critical moment of the purchase.  

KPI 3: Payment acceptance rate

Definition: It represents the share of payments authorized by banks or PSPs out of all payment attempts made.  

Why it's crucial: It is a direct lever for your revenue. The higher this rate, the fewer confirmed sales you lose. Improving technical performance has a direct impact on this rate and, consequently, on your earnings. Gaining one or two percentage points can represent thousands of euros.  

KPI 4: Payment abandonment rate

Definition: This is the proportion of users who leave the journey after confirming their cart but before finalizing payment. To some extent, it is the inverse of the acceptance rate and is linked to potential friction.

Why it's crucial: In 2024, 22% of users abandoned their carts because the checkout process was too long or too complex. This rate reveals issues with user experience, perceived lack of trust, or an inadequate choice of payment methods. Monitoring it helps identify bottlenecks on the payment page.  

KPI 5: Unpaid / fraud rate

Definition: It concerns transactions that were initially accepted but later contested or rejected (fraud, failed direct debits, etc.).  

Why it's crucial: This KPI is essential for monitoring your financial risk. It allows you to adjust your anti-fraud rules without hindering conversion. A high rate may indicate vulnerabilities or a lack of adapted strategies.  

2. The importance of management: turning data into action

Payment data allows you to understand your customers and optimize your performance. Tracking these key indicators is not enough; you must analyze them to continuously adjust, test, and improve your payment strategy.  

A centralized view

Tools like the Purse dashboard allow you to access a centralized view of these indicators and track their evolution in real time.  

Failure analysis

A high-performance dashboard allows you to analyze the causes of failures in detail and track their trends, enabling precise adjustments.  

Personalized support

Every client receives personalized support to fine-tune settings and optimize their acceptance rate.  

3. Take action: your payment optimization strategy

Turning these insights into concrete actions is the final step to boosting your conversion.

Simplify the checkout experience 

Reduce friction by removing unnecessary fields, allowing guest checkout, and enabling one-click payments for returning customers.  

Offer the right payment methods

Study local habits and offer your customers' preferred methods (BNPL, digital wallets, gift cards, country-specific methods). A lack of choice can lead to 13% of cart abandonments.  

Enable digital wallets for speed

Digital wallets (PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay) drastically simplify the payment process by eliminating manual data entry. 41% of online payments in France will be made via digital wallets by 2027.  

Remove barriers with BNPL

BNPL is a go-to for many consumers, especially for medium to high-value baskets. It can increase the average basket size by 35%.  

Secure payments without compromising the experience

A secure environment is the primary decision factor for consumers. 25% of abandonments are due to security concerns. Display trust signals (bank logos, PCI DSS, HTTPS), focus on usability, and adjust security rules (e.g., 3D Secure adapted to transaction amounts).  

Turn failed payments into sales

A failed payment is not a lost sale. By analyzing the cause of the failure in real time, you can re-prompt the user, offer an alternative payment method, or automatically switch to another PSP.  

Run A/B tests

Optimization is an ongoing process. Test different payment experiences (layout, order of payment methods, PSPs) to identify the best-performing solutions and adjust your settings in real time.  

Enable orchestration

This is your strategic lever. Orchestration gives you back control over your payment ecosystem, without the technical complexity. It offers flexibility, agility, visibility, and security.  

For a complete payment strategy: Download our guide! These levers are just a glimpse of the possibilities for optimizing your payments. For a more detailed analysis, practical advice, and concrete action plans to maximize your conversion, download our exclusive ebook: 

👉 9 tips for an effective payment strategy to maximize your conversion

Conclusion: payments as a strategic lever for your business 

Payment is not just a "confirm" button at the end of the checkout process; it is a crucial strategic lever for your e-commerce business. Managing your payment performance through the right metrics and adopting a proactive approach is essential to reduce abandonment, increase your conversion rates, and optimize your revenue.  

At Purse, we support e-merchants who want to turn payments into a driver of performance, growth, and customer satisfaction. Our agnostic solution, connected to over 80 international payment methods, maximizes transaction conversion while simplifying our clients' technical architecture.  

Don't wait any longer! Contact our experts to turn your payment data into concrete actions and boost your performance.

Sources: 

• Baymard Institute Study (2024)

• Team France Export (March 2021)

• Oney - News & Studies (2019)

• Alma - News and Resources