Drivers commute in traffic every day. Sometimes it moves, sometimes you don’t go anywhere and sometimes you hit a pot hole and throw out your alignment. Payment processors deal with the unpredictability of traffic, too.
Navigating through traffic is challenging. As consumers come to Segpay payment pages, we play the role of traffic cop, trying to get everyone where they need to go quickly, and flagging down the cars that are a danger to everyone. Of course, every merchant wants the traffic they send us to be converted into sales, but not all traffic is good traffic.
Our merchants’ growth is dependent on good traffic and good conversions. It’s important for us to find the clearest route, because if we are not converting their good traffic, an affiliate will choose to work with another merchant.
So, first we have to determine a few things, such as … can we convert the traffic to begin with? Was the traffic already declined by another processor? What geographic location is the traffic coming from? Is an affiliate trying to take you for a ride?
Ultimately, we are measured by our ability to convert traffic at a high rate to help merchants drive business. Our merchants’ growth is dependent on good traffic and good conversions. It’s important for us to find the clearest route, because if we are not converting their good traffic, an affiliate will choose to work with another merchant. We want our merchants to be successful, so here’s a look into how we navigate through the good and bad.
Segpay typically gives the green light to traffic when it comes from well-vetted affiliates. We’ll caution merchants against bad traffic; for example, a high volume of referrals due to low-dollar trial offers can lead to lots of fraud. On the other hand, offers that pay the affiliate based on successful conversions get a green light — as does traffic that is well-targeted towards a specific campaign or geo location. When it comes to traffic referred via desktop versus mobile, there is a big difference. Mobile traffic often generates lots of hits but, in the end, results in fewer conversions than traffic that comes via desktop.
There are other forms of bad traffic to be aware of, with the biggest offender being any traffic coming through offers that attempt to mislead consumers. Beware of traffic from countries with low credit card penetration, or where relatively few consumers can afford a $29.95 membership. Another prime example is “decline” traffic, which was already vetted and declined by a primary processor, but still sent to a secondary processor in a cascading setup. Merchants may believe there’s nothing to lose in re-trying these declines, but they will rarely, if ever succeed, severely dragging down conversion rates.
That is why Segpay requires merchants to send in an affiliate ID to help us identify and report on campaigns. We notify merchants when campaigns or affiliates produce a high number of chargebacks, refunds or other anomalies. Of course, merchants never like to see low conversion rates but, in the end, we need to pay close attention to potential warning signs and help our merchants avoid major bumps in the road — like a good traffic cop.
It took only three years for Cathy Beardsley to turn startup Segpay into a profitable company. As president and CEO, Beardsley oversees the day-to-day operations and long-term strategic planning for the company. Segpay is one of four companies approved by Visa USA to operate as a high-risk internet payment service provider in the U.S. Since 2005, Segpay has offered online merchants a state-of-the-art billing platform that provides realtime payment processing around the globe.
