FASHION Tip Sheet
7 Payment actions for fashion retailers to recover lost sales
The biggest opportunities to improve conversion, payments performance, and overall revenue, backed by shopper research
Tip 1
Remove surprise costs before checkout
Why it matters
40% of fashion and sportswear shoppers abandon their purchase when an unexpected charge appears at checkout. Women (46%) and 25- to 34-year-olds (44%) are the most likely to walk away.
Do next:
-
Show shipping, taxes, and fees as early as possible on the product and cart pages. Use early ZIP code or country estimators.
-
Test free-shipping thresholds
-
Track abandonment at the step where costs first appear
HOW ACI WORLWIDE CAN HELP
Most causes of cart abandonment are addressable and can be improved. Ask for an expert checkout optimization review and see where checkout friction is costing you sales.
Tip 2
Build a recovery path for failed payments
Why it matters
39% of shoppers give up on the purchase when their payment fails, and 22% buy from another retailer instead. Different markets recover from payment failures slightly differently, for example: UK shoppers are more likely to delay the purchase and try again later (46% vs. 35% in the US).
Do next:
-
Add smart retry logic, intelligent payment routing, and optimize authentication strategies, for example with 3DS data enrichment
-
Send reminders to shoppers that experienced a failure and abandoned the cart
-
Offer alternative payment methods right on the failure screen
-
Review declines by market, channel, issuer, BIN, acquirer, and payment method
-
Track soft-decline and retry outcomes, 3DS abandonment, and approval rates by value as well as by count
HOW ACI WORLWIDE CAN HELP
The ACI Payments Optimization Program helps merchants boost acceptance rates, reduce unnecessary declines, and recover lost revenue through targeted, data‑driven improvements. According to ACI data, you can improve approval rates via better credentials and smart routing by more than 20%.
Tip 3
Localize your payments mix by market
Why it matters
19% of shoppers abandon their cart when their preferred payment method isn’t offered, and preferences differ by market and age.
Do next:
-
Map your payment methods against each market and channel
-
Add locally preferred methods where gaps show up
-
Compare approval rates across your acquirers
HOW ACI WORLWIDE CAN HELP
With over 200 payment methods, more than 70 acquirer connections, and coverage across 160 countries, ACI is best positioned to enable local payment methods, wallets, BNPL, and multiple acquirers through a single integration, allowing merchants to localize checkout experiences and increase conversion.
Explore how to optimize payments acceptance market by market.
Tip 4
Make sure your site holds up during peak sales times
Why it matters
Sales drive 41% of impulse purchases (49% for sportswear), and 26% of shoppers abandon the purchase when a site or app isn’t working.
Do next:
-
Load-test payments before every major promotion
-
Set up failover so one provider’s outage doesn’t stop sales
-
Watch approval rates live during peaks
HOW ACI WORLWIDE CAN HELP
The ACI payments platform handles demand spikes through intelligent routing across providers, which protects approvals and conversions at peak. Our numbers? 99.999% SLA and more than 777 billion consumer transactions processed annually.
Got a launch or sale season coming up? Make sure payments are ready for it. Ask for a peak-readiness conversation.
Tip 5
Treat returns as two separate problems
Why it matters
79% of fashion shoppers say better sizing and product information would reduce returns and 55% would shop elsewhere if policies tightened.
Do next:
-
Improve sizing guides, product detail, and reviews. Start with the most-returned items
-
Flag repeat bracketing at the account level
-
Apply stricter checks only to risky accounts
HOW ACI WORLWIDE CAN HELP
Payments intelligence and orchestration use transaction and behavioral signals to tell trusted shoppers from returns abuse. Ask an ACI expert how to reduce abuse without hurting customer experience.
Tip 6
Make repeat purchases effortless in your app
Why it matters
Retail apps shape loyalty and repeat purchases. 35% of fashion shoppers value easier app browsing, 33% care about order tracking and returns, and 25% want faster checkout and saved payment details.
Do next:
-
Let returning shoppers pay in one tap with securely stored credentials and saved payment preferences
-
Make browsing, order tracking, and returns easy to reach inside the app
-
Recognize the customer in store, too, by scanning the app
HOW ACI WORLWIDE CAN HELP
Through orchestration, tokenization, and lifecycle-managed credentials, ACI helps merchants make repeat purchases faster and easier, reducing checkout friction, increasing conversion, and driving higher customer lifetime value.
Tip 7
Get ready for agentic commerce
Why it matters
Agentic commerce is coming! While 35% of shoppers currently use AI for assistance with price-drop alerts and price comparison, merchants need to get discoverable by agents.
Do next:
-
Make your catalog readable by AI agents
-
Update fraud rules so legitimate agents aren’t blocked as bots
-
Start accepting agent-initiated transactions
HOW ACI WORLWIDE CAN HELP
ACI helps merchants convert AI traffic from external AI agents and improve the customer journey through bespoke agents. Our Agentic Commerce Services help merchants prepare for AI-assisted discovery and purchase with control, trust, and fraud protection, with ACI’s protocol-agnostic orchestrator.
Preparing for AI agents at your checkout? Learn more here.
Recover the sales you’re already earning
You’ve invested to attract shoppers. Don’t lose them to avoidable payments friction, from surprise costs and failed payments to missing payment methods and peak-time performance issues. Each of these challenges can be measured, prioritized, and improved.
ACI Worldwide can help identify where revenue is leaking across your customer journey and which changes are most likely to increase conversion, approval rates, and customer lifetime value.
Ready to turn payments friction into growth?