I recently made two purchases, and experienced the same error but different types of responses, which led me to two completely different outcomes.
Let me explain.
I went on to garmin.com, and purchased a dash cam—you know because drivers are crazy these days.
Inputting my billing details I put the wrong address.
The payment submits but almost 24 hours later I get an email about a cancellation due to security reasons and a request to reenter the correct billing information.
“There was an error while processing your order, and it has been canceled.
For your account security, we have canceled your order due to information that could not be verified as entered. Please try placing your order again and verify that your billing address and payment details are entered correctly.”
I wasn’t upset, I was actually thankful they have such security measures, but to be honest I didn’t notice I was emailed until about three days later.
This error prompted an idea, and I wanted to test another website. Naturally I went to ikea.com to look at some helpful items. I can always buy their RINNIG dish brush which stands up on it’s own. So, I order a few and intentionally input the wrong billing address.
This is what I get:
The payment error response was immediate. It wouldn’t let me go through. A lot less information, but I was able to re-input my information right there, and I was thankful I wasn’t surprised by stumbling upon a canceled order three days later.
If I didn’t really know what mistake I was making, (e.g. wrong card number, or wrong address) this may have frustrated me having to re-input my info a few times.
I say that, because I would currently prefer Ikea’s immediate feedback, however I recognize Garmin’s as more detailed, and specific to what the issue is.
What are your thoughts on developing error responses for your customers? Which would work better for customer revenue recovery or retention in the long run?
Check out some of Rapyd’s Error Messages for Payments or other objects / platforms.