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8 Ways to Reduce Chargebacks

There is probably no better feeling for a merchant than when a customer buys, and loves your products. Profit is important too, but small wins can definitely boost your morale!

As much as a purchase can help your morale and your bottom line, a complaint, or worse, a refund, can hurt it. Refunds are part of business, and there’s no way to avoid them.

There is something worse than a refund though. Chargebacks are also yet another unavoidable part of the business world, but these can be a bit more damaging. Oftentimes people may confuse refunds with chargebacks, but they are not the same thing.

So what is a chargeback and how does it differ from a refund?

Simply put, a refund is when a customer requests their money back from the merchant, and the merchant accepts and returns their money.

A chargeback on the other hand, is when the customer contacts their bank, instead of contacting the merchant, to get their money back. This typically happens after the merchant has declined to issue a refund. You can learn more about the chargeback process here. Suffice it to say, at the end of the process there is rarely a winner.

Once a chargeback has been filed, the merchant is assessed a fee, regardless of whether the merchant or the customer wins the chargeback. If the merchant loses the chargeback, the merchant must refund the money to the customer, in addition to paying a chargeback fee. And, by the way, if you get too many chargebacks as a merchant, your merchant account could be terminated.

In order to understand how to prevent chargebacks, we need to understand why chargebacks happen in the first place. Fundamentally, there are several different types of chargebacks, and they typically fall into one of 4 categories.

Criminal fraud

This is when a fraudster accesses a customer’s account and makes an unauthorized purchase, leading the customer to contact the merchant or directly contact their card network.

Friendly fraud

This is when a customer makes a deliberate attempt to get their money back, even if they received their product, and were satisfied with it. They may contact the merchant, or just go straight to their card issuer. Friendly fraud is one of the leading causes of chargebacks.

Merchant error

This is when the merchant makes a mistake on the product delivery, and delivers a product that was not as described. Basically, the merchant is in the wrong here, and needs to remedy the situation by delivering the product, or giving a refund. This goes hand in hand with customer support. If your support team isn’t proficient in resolving complaints, they could be inadvertently be adding to your chargeback woes.

Affiliate fraud

Affiliate fraud is another serious contributor to chargebacks. Frequently, affiliates will display inaccurate pricing, terms or even product descriptions, in order to entice consumers to buy your product. You pay the affiliate for the sale and several weeks later, your customer charges back because your affiliate promised them something you can’t or don’t provide.

Now that we understand what causes chargebacks, lets see what we can do to fight them. Here are 8 practical ways to reduce chargebacks…

Set up Ethoca and Verifi alerts

A simple and effective way to get started on reducing your chargebacks comes down to leveraging an effective alert system before the dispute happens.

Luckily there are two, and they’re well known.

There’s Ethoca alerts, which is from Mastercard, and Verifi, which is from Visa.

Basically, these are two alert systems that give merchants a notification for when a customer attempts to do a dispute with their bank.

From there, the dispute gets paused, and the merchant is given a brief amount of time to either decide to issue a refund to the customer, or decline the refund and likely move forward with chargeback representment. Typically, as most merchants know, a refund is the best route to go, but there are exceptional cases that can happen from time to time.

This is why thankfully, Visa and Mastercard acquired these technologies, and this is especially timely considering the rise of eCommerce and Card Not Present transactions.

2. Offer refunds to dissatisfied customers

Typically if a customer is dissatisfied, it is for a legitimate reason. Customers want the product they paid for, not a fight with a merchant.

Sometimes however, there are exceptional cases, and there are customers who may try to abuse your services. And obviously if the reason is legitimate, such as dissatisfaction with the product, offer a refund or an alternative.

But, the same goes for supposedly illegitimate reasons too.

It may suck to do, but it’s often better to just refund their money, and avoid a chargeback. The odds are already stacked against you when it comes to chargebacks, and even if you do win, you’ll still have to pay fees.

So with this in mind, you need to do everything you can to avoid disputes in the first place.

This is why it’s important to make sure your refund policy is clear, and to have terms and conditions available on your website that are within the consumers rights of your jurisdiction.

But if they still have a dispute, this is why it’s also important to have a quick response time and good customer service. If no one answers the phone or emails for more than a day, many cardholders will likely do a chargeback, with some even doing it the same day.

With that being said, if you’ve made your terms clear, you have good customer service, but they are still unwilling to negotiate an alternative, the best thing to do is just give them the refund to avoid further escalation of the situation.

3. High chargebacks? Change your billing model

Your product is one of the most important factors behind getting chargebacks, but it’s not the only one.

Your billing model could also be part of the problem.

This is because it depends on the market you are working with, and if you’re in the high-risk space, things can get especially tricky.

Just keep in mind that if you’re selling products on a trial basis, your “14-day trial” could be leading to high chargebacks. Consider changing your billing to a straight monthly subscription, with no trial.

This is especially important to do if you notice your customers forget often. You can do several email reminders before the trial ends to help them remember their original purchase and reduce the chances of a chargeback.

Doing reminders is a key tactic that can reduce your chargebacks, as you’ll see in the next point, but the details about how you bill your customers matters too.

4. Be transparent about your billing cycle

Another common reason chargebacks happen is transparency about your billing cycle.

If you aren’t clear about when the bill will be processed, it is very likely that your customer will be caught off guard when it happens.

So, if you are using subscriptions to bill your customers, do everything possible to notify them up front that there is a subscription, and notify them each month when their bill will be processed.

And relating to the last point, you can also do email reminders before the next bill to reduce the chances of a chargeback. Typically 7 days before is a good amount of time to notify your customers, and it’s also important to be on the lookout for cards that have just expired.

Bottom line, the more upfront you are about billing, the less chances there will be a problem.

5. Check your billing descriptors

This is often overlooked by merchants, but recently, many payment processors have caught onto this and now offer solutions to easily fix it.

Your billing descriptor can in itself cause chargebacks.

So what exactly is a billing descriptor? Simply put, it’s an explanation on your customer’s credit card statement that lists details about the transaction. An explanation shouldn’t be a problem, but it can be if it is vague and looks scammy.

For example, if your company is named Bob’s Tools, Inc, and on the bill it says “randomcompany.LTD”, your customer will likely get confused about this.

Sure your parent company could be RandomCompany.LTD, but they probably won’t know that, and they most likely won’t even bother to check. They’ll likely suspect fraud, and just go straight to their bank to do a chargeback; This is especially true if it’s a larger amount.

So how do we fix this? It’s pretty straightforward.

Your billing descriptors should be checked at least once a quarter to make sure that they are accurate, and it should at a minimum include your website address and your customer support number. So our friend Bob’s descriptor might look something more like BOB’S TOOLS 888-888-8888 once he’s fixed it.

6. Use 3D Secure to stop friendly fraud

As mentioned in the first tip about setting up Ethoca and Verifi alerts, having an alert system is great to prevent chargebacks. But what should you use to prevent friendly fraud chargebacks?

If you want to prevent fraud, there’s a powerful tool out there that can help prevent it:

3D Secure.

Sometimes known as 3DS, 3D Secure is a global security protocol used by card networks to protect merchants from fraud, and it’s an additional security layer used to authenticate online card-not-present transactions, prevent Account Takeover (ATO), and also friendly fraud.

It does this by sending authentication information to the card network’s bank, and by verifying if the cardholder’s credentials match the ones at their bank. It’s called 3DS, because it consists of the merchant or acquirer’s domain, the interoperability domain and the card issuers domain.

With that in mind, this is great news for merchants for three reasons:

Once a transaction is authenticated using 3DS, it limits the cardholder’s ability to do a chargeback.

3DS transactions are viewed as lower risk from banks, thus allowing you to qualify for lower interchange fees.

It can sift out a clear fraud attempt very quickly.

You can learn more about 3DS and its other benefits here.

7. Use fraud prevention tools to prevent criminal fraud

Fraud has been on the rise in the last few years, and has been absolutely exacerbated since the advent of the pandemic.

With more transactions shifting online, you have to ask yourself what you’re doing as a merchant to help protect your customers from fraudulent activities, and a big part of the solution is using fraud prevention tools and methods.

Some examples can include:

AVS

The Address Verification Service, or AVS, is a tool that allows merchants to easily verify addresses in order to detect and prevent credit card fraud and suspicious transactions. If a match or partial match is found between the customers billing address and the card issuer’s records, the transaction will be processed without a problem. This is a quick and easy automated way of avoiding fraud and chargebacks in the first place.

Fraud blacklists

You could take a guess as to whether or not a transaction was fraudulent, or, you could use a blacklist to help give you a clue. Many times fraudsters don’t just stop at one transaction, but will often come back for more. This is why having access to a blacklist of known fraudsters with their attributes is invaluable to prevent fraudulent transactions and chargebacks.

Geolocation

Using geographical information can be very useful when trying to prevent fraud as well. If you have had fraud occur several times from a given area, or you notice addresses that don’t line up with the customers billing information, this may be a red flag. This is why geolocation can be great to also gather evidence of a potential fraud.

Device fingerprinting

Card information, lists and locations can all be helpful, but what if you use the characteristics of a device to identify a customer? This is what device fingerprinting does. It’s basically the process of getting specific signature information about a device to help identify it. This can include details like the operating system and any other settings that the user sets in the device, and it’s important to note that this method is different from cookies, as the information is stored on a company’s server, and not locally.

Velocity checking

This is yet another fraud detection tool that every merchant needs to use. If a buyer submits multiple transactions in a short amount of time, this could indicate fraud, and this is because fraudsters will typically try to spend the maximum limit on a card as soon as they get one. In short, this tool can easily expose fraud in the moment it happens.

8. Outsource your chargebacks to a qualified chargeback representment firm

So by this point, we’ve gone over 7 ways to prevent chargebacks, and each of these can prove to be beneficial to reducing your chances of chargebacks occurring.

However you also need to consider by how much they can reduce your chances…

You have to face the fact that preventing chargebacks on your own is hard, and that the room for error is very slim. Maybe you know some details about the chargeback representment process, but you have some doubts…

This could spell losses on top of losses, especially if you’re in the high risk space. This is why it’s a good idea to outsource your chargebacks to a qualified chargeback representment firm.

At Helios Payments, we know chargebacks inside and out, and not only will we help you win disputes, we’ll also give you the tools needed to mitigate their damage, such as:

Detailed analytics to help you identify problematic affiliates
Chargeback reporting based on billing cycle, card type, BIN and more
3D Secure authentication

And let’s face it, if you don’t understand the game, you stand little chance of winning at it. When you work with experts, you’ll get the right tools and knowledge to not only win disputes, but to do even better: Prevent chargebacks in the first place.

Summary

So in short, chargebacks and refunds are a part of business, and they at some point will inevitably happen. However, there are some things you can do to reduce the chances of them occurring, and minimize the damage in the process.

A refund can feel terrible to give, but a chargeback can hurt your monthly chargeback ratio and ultimately the status of your merchant account with your bank.

At the end of the day, you need to use tools to protect your business from fraud, know the ins and outs of your billing, and be attentive to your customers needs, and in the worst case, their complaints.

And if this sounds like a complicated process with many steps, you’re right, it is.

Want to reduce chargebacks in a simple yet effective way? Click here to learn more…

Can You Save Money Managing Your Own Chargebacks?

When I ran my skincare company, chargebacks were one of the most critical KPIs for our team to follow. They affected our bottom line. They also told us things, like what affiliates sucked and needed to be tossed to the curb. More importantly, they were an existential threat to our merchant accounts.

I can tell you right from the start, we outsourced our chargeback management. I have never regretted that. I wanted our team to be focused on increasing traffic, providing awesome products and service and decreasing our risk. I could have had a small department managing chargebacks within our company in the name of “saving money”. That would have slowed us down AND cost more money.

Chargeback representment explained

We talked about chargebacks being an inevitable part of business. That’s true, but it’s also true that you can in certain situations dispute them. This is where chargeback representment comes in…

So what is chargeback representment?

It’s a process where merchants can submit evidence to their bank to prove that the transaction that occurred was indeed valid, and that the chargeback brought forth by a cardholder/customer should be overturned. Put simply, representment is your opportunity to reverse the chargeback and save the revenue.

According to Verifi, a JPMorgan report found that on average merchants win 22 percent of their chargeback cases. It’s also worth noting that only 30% of merchants actually represent all their chargebacks, and 56% represent fraud related chargebacks. So keep in mind that you’ll miss 100% of the shots you don’t take, but you also need the right technique and strategy to get winning shots too!

To represent a chargeback, you’ll need the following:

Evidence
Anything that can prove that the transaction was indeed valid will help convince your bank that you are in the clear. And remember, the reason code also matters in this, so if fraud is suspected, make sure you have the right evidence to prove that it wasn’t. Examples can include: Your return policy, tracking information, receipts, a matching AVS and CVV on the customer’s transaction, their IP address and customer emails are all great pieces of evidence, but you could definitely find more!
A Chargeback Rebuttal Letter
When submitting your evidence to the bank, you need to present it in a professional and detailed way. This is why you should use a chargeback rebuttal letter when submitting your evidence to the bank, and this formal letter should also be skimmable, using shorter sentences, bullet points, and writing that makes a persuasive argument that the chargeback is unwarranted. The amount you are contesting, the reason code, and any other evidence are also important things to include of course.

Is it worth the trouble to represent your own chargebacks?

Merchants do this to prevent profit losses, but it can also prevent customers from abusing their services in the future, and can send a clear message that you won’t take illegitimate chargebacks. If you do decide to go the route of chargeback representment, it may feel hard to know where to start, and the costs of hiring a staff to handle chargebacks may seem daunting. Knowing some of the work involved details, is chargeback representment truly worth the time?

The short answer is no.

Look, it may seem enticing to handle this process in house and represent your own chargebacks, but rest assured it’s a trap and a disaster waiting to happen. You could do everything in house, but do you have the right people in your team that truly understand complicated bank policies, card brand processes and the sudden shifts they may have, month to month, and year to year?

In the end, your team will likely end up spending more time, and more money, representing chargebacks with worse results than if you were to outsource chargeback representments and alerts. This is especially true if you and your team lack experience, and don’t know what evidence truly convinces a bank that the chargeback is illegitimate.

Why representing your own chargebacks is a bad idea…

So by now, you get that representing your own chargebacks probably just isn’t worth the trouble. It’s also a bad idea too! You and your team need to be focused on marketing and running your company. It’s as simple as that. On top of creating a disruption in productivity, focusing on chargebacks can take time away from the bigger picture, and can lead to profit losses on top of losses incurred from chargebacks.

Another reason representing your own chargebacks is a bad idea comes down to some merchants not fully understanding and utilizing the information at their fingertips in regards to analytics. You should be using the intelligence gained from your chargeback provider to make adjustments to your operations to reduce chargebacks and risk. Reviewing chargeback and risk analytics and using them to improve your processes is the only aspect of chargeback management that you or your team should be involved with.

Work smart, not hard.

It’s not a question of if chargebacks will happen, but when. You’ll need to deal with your chargebacks, one way or the other. You can choose to represent your own chargebacks, which will involve countless hours studying the (ever-changing) chargeback rules and processes. You’ll also need to setup and manage your own alerts. Oh, and you’ll need to be sure all of this gets done well, and quickly, because there is a limited time-frame in which to represent chargebacks. Even if you manage to do all this well, you will still be missing a critical piece – chargeback analytics.

Outsourcing to an experienced, qualified chargeback representment team will get you the vital analytics you need to improve your processes. Besides, who do you think will win more chargebacks (and save more revenue) for you – your homegrown team or a qualified chargeback representment company?

The merchants that are able to keep their MIDs live and use chargeback intelligence in their favor are the merchants that will scale and gobble up market share.

With that in mind, HeliosPayments is here to help!

We have extensive experience with merchants in the high risk space, and we’ll get the ball rolling for you in no time. With our access to 25 banking institutions, and relationships with trusted banks in the US and the EU, you’ll get more options to find the best rates and the right payment processing tools for your business.

And in addition to helping you fight and prevent chargebacks with our chargeback representment services, we’ll also give you 3D Secure authentication to get you the right proof needed to establish that the customer made the transaction – and prevent those chargebacks from happening in the first place.

Remember – not all banks are created equal, and many aren’t as forgiving about chargebacks as you’d expect. This is why we’ll help you choose a bank that truly understands high risk merchants and is more tolerant when it comes to chargeback risk.

Ready to go home victorious, and start winning chargeback cases? Click here to learn more about how we can help…

Trouble managing your customers? 5 Top CRM’s compared

The reality is, the bigger your business gets, the more you’ll have to keep track of, and this is especially true when it comes to your customer management and acquisition.

You may be acquiring more customers than ever before, or maybe you have less but they pay higher. Regardless, information about them that can guide your sales process will be a key advantage to have to grow revenue quicker.

But how do we ensure this in a simple and effective way?

This is where your CRM software steps in…

CRM’s, or customer relationship management software, are software that allow you to manage the relationships between you and your customers effectively by collecting and showing key analytics that oftentimes can make or break a sale.

They can give you key insights into your customers, such as where they are in the sales cycle, and they can also help you optimize the performance of your campaigns, lead collection and closing process. In recent years it has become common knowledge that loyalty and customer retention have been found to be tied to company revenues, and this was well demonstrated by a Harvard Business School study which demonstrated that, “Increasing customer retention rates by 5% increases profits by 25% to 95%.”

With that in mind, this article will list some good options that are out there that not only could help you increase your revenues, but also benefit high-risk merchants.

1.Konnektive

If you’re within the mid-sized to enterprise category, and you are a direct to consumer type of merchant, Konnektive could be a good choice for your business.

They have a reliable backorder, inventory, returns and shipping management system, and they are known to offer top-level customer support for the high price they charge. Currently, they don’t seem to offer a free trial, and they typically cost around $499 USD per month, but this again could vary depending on the plan they establish for you on the scheduled demo.

Their Capterra page seems to show a few of the common features you would expect in an eCommerce CRM such as a customer database, order fulfillment software and returns management, but it also appears that common CRM features like sales orders and reports are not available for some reason.

This is likely out of date though, because their personal website now shows that they have added big updates to their software such as having API logs available, real time extensive reporting and analytics, decline salvaging, and on top of that, 165 gateway integrations that come included with your monthly subscription.

These gateway integrations allow you to add multiple merchant accounts for different gateways, and they also appear to have good chargeback and fraud management capabilities, as Konnektive incorporates well with chargeback management companies through simple plugins.

No free trial–>$499 USD/month
For Mid Sized eCommerce businesses
Backorder Management
Inventory Management Software
Real Time Order Entry
Returns Management
Shipping Management

2.Sticky.io

Similar to Konnektive, Sticky.io is another CRM that works best for midsize to enterprise level businesses in the eCommerce space, and it too has custom pricing that is in the higher range.

They say on their sales page that they are a “Full-stack subscription commerce platform”, and that by using their service, you don’t need to use too many plugins because they are API driven and have integrations built in. They also make an emphasis on helping you do headless commerce, which is great considering that you can use different software for your backend and your frontend, and ultimately edit each without affecting each other, reducing interruptions and downtime for your business.

In addition to the common features of most eCommerce CRM’s such as one-click upsells and product bundle creation, they also have detailed analytics to help you identify customers who are at risk of being unsatisfied, all so you better prevent cancellations.

That coupled with their smart dunning feature and the pattern recognition of their AI system, Sticky.io could be worth the money for your business if you are really struggling with finding the root cause of your problems with your customers, but are also willing to spend more money to find out.

No free trial and has custom pricing
Best for Midsize to enterprise level businesses in eCommerce
It’s a subscription commerce platform with a CRM software
Allows you to do flexible subscriptions
Email Marketing Software
Social Media Integration
Third Party Integrations
Reporting/Analytics

3.WooCommerce

First put on the market in 2011, this open-source eCommerce platform and CRM has proven its usefulness and popularity among seasoned WordPress users, and new ones alike.

Unlike the previously mentioned CRM’s, WooCommerce is definitely more affordable, and this is due to the fact that it is fundamentally a freemium software that allows you to add on other paid extensions, and increase your monthly fees as you scale.

Similar to other eCommerce CRM platforms, they have many of the typical features you would expect such as built-in multi currency support, popular integrated payment methods included like Apple Pay and Google Play, and features to reduce cart abandonment. Their pricing can reportedly go from $110, all the way up to $1500+ annually, but again, there is much more wiggle room on what you are willing to pay, and the annual cost is definitely less than other CRM’s out there.

WooCommerce is a popular eCommerce platform that caters much more to the new business owner who may not have much money to start with, but it can also be useful for companies that are mid sized and even possibly enterprise.

According to Barn2Plugins, WooCommerce’s market share of eCommerce sites was 26% in 2020, outpacing Shopify, but this is likely due to combination of WordPress user adoption and the fact that it is a freeware.

Create your store in the WordPress platform
Flexible and Secure Payments
Manage your orders all in one place
Sell physical, digital products or both
Open source

4.Response CRM

Although it isn’t freeware, Response CRM is another platform that may entice some, mainly due to it’s transaction fee pricing, in comparison to monthly membership and contract commitments.

Instead of doing an expensive monthly fixed subscription, they offer a $0.06 transaction fee, and don’t charge setup or hidden fees. This can definitely be an upside for your business especially if you are new and low on cash.

However, this benefit could also lead to higher costs over time if you do in fact start getting larger revenues, as 6 cents can surprisingly start to add up if you have thousands or millions of transactions per month. With a more lenient pricing structure, at least initially, Response CRM could be a decent eCommerce solution to start off with and then transition from… or possibly stick with.

They do offer tools to improve your conversion rate such as split URL testing, reporting and billing analytics, tools for managing affiliates, and integration with 40+ payment processor plugins, and these can help with shipping, building funnels and preventing fraud. All crucial points to your eCommerce store.

And although they offer many features that are commonly offered in CRM’s, they also have some surprises. One unique feature to note is their credit card testing feature, as it allows you to test as many unique cards as you would like in order to protect your business from competitors who try to model after the flow of your highest converting pages. This can help protect your business process, and prevent them from stealing your strategy.

This feature could be a hidden gem that other eCommerce platforms may not provide…

$0.06 for each successful transaction
Has detailed customer profiles
Split URL testing
Open API keys
No sign up fees

5.Shopify

You’ve heard of Shopify, right? If you haven’t, you’re probably very new to eCommerce, and even the internet for that matter.

As it is currently one of the most popular commerce platforms in the world and continuing to dominate the eCommerce space, Shopify has shown itself to be a swiss army knife of a platform, containing nearly everything you would need to grow and scale your business, all within a fairly user-friendly way.

Whether you are making no profit, or are a successful business, Shopify gives you different options for the level of your business, with a basic level at $29 USD for a small store with few sales, all the way up to paying $299 USD a month as an advanced seller, who needs intricate analytics and a 53% discount on shipping. They even have Shopify Plus, which is a customized solution for larger enterprise customers…

There are numerous benefits to using Shopify, but there are some disadvantages depending on what vertical you are in.

Shopify offers their own payment solution, Shopify payments, and they prefer if you would use theirs instead of a competitor. They disincentivize you by charging additional fees for each transaction, ranging from 0.5%-2%, and things can get even more tricky if you are a high risk merchant who will have payments processed for CBD, supplements and subscription products.

Shopify can be strict when it comes to certain high risk products, and they do not integrate with the NMI gateway, which is the preferred and most reliable gateway for high risk payment processing. This payment gateway doesn’t mess around, and high risk merchants rely on them for their enhanced security measures like the Merchant defender system, iSpyFraud and CertifyPCI system.

Because of these factors, Shopify may not be the best choice for high risk merchants, and other options may be more sustainable in the long term.

Free trial, and $29/month
Most used eCommerce platform today
Customer database
Manage sales, payments, orders and inventory
Has solutions for brick and mortar retailers as well
Ability to manage sales tax

Summary of main points

So in the end, any of these options could work for your business, but there are some that will prove more beneficial for you in certain situations in comparison to others.

Konnektive has a reliable backorder, inventory, returns and shipping management, and it allows for real time order entry. Sticky.io is similar to Konnektive as it has no free trial, custom pricing, and this software can also be great for enterprise level eCommerce businesses as well, and both these software is great for SMB’s that are direct to consumer merchants, want a reliable inventory management system, but are also willing to pay more than other options without a free trial.

On the cheaper side, Response CRM and WooCommerce could be a viable option for newer businesses low on cash or some SMB’s looking to cut costs on their CRM budget. WooCommerce is freeware at its base level, but it does offer extra features as an upsell that can add to your monthly bill, such as tools to manage your inventory better and prevent abandon carts, while Response CRM scraps the monthly billing model, and just charge you $0.06 per every successful transaction.

And last but not least, there’s Shopify. This platform can be great for SMB’s and enterprise sized eCommerce merchants alike, but things can start to get tricky when you put high-risk merchants into the mix. With apprehension towards high risk industries (CBD, supplements, nutraceuticals etc.…) and a lack of NMI gateway support, Shopify may not be the most suitable option for you even though they have some effective marketing tools.

In the end, the popularity of a CRM platform could give clues on the value they may be bringing to their subscribers, but don’t be afraid to take a look at lesser known options.

Bottomline, if they are willing to take a risk on you, then maybe it could be worth taking a risk on them…

How to find a CBD friendly bank

It’s no secret that the public perception of cannabis has become more favorable in recent years.

Cannabis is no longer considered just to be a plant where marijuana can be derived from to smoke, as it has become a source of curiosity in the scientific community about its purported health benefits.

In 2015, legislation was passed in order to loosen regulations regarding marijuana research under the Obama administration, and in doing so, they have brought us that much closer to discovering the truth about this potentially helpful plant, while also opening up potential research on products derived from it as well.

Marijuana, cannabis, hemp and even CBD are all terms that are used interchangeably within mainstream discussions about the topic, but there are some definitions and fine lines to be aware of.

Simply put, Marijuana is cannabis that has more than 0.3 percent of THC by dry weight, while Hemp has less than 0.3 percent THC by dry weight. With a level higher than 0.3 percent, Marijuana could get you “high”, while hemp may have little to no psychoactive effects. CBD, or cannabidiol on the other hand, is an active ingredient in cannabis, and on it’s own cannot get you high or make you chemically dependent on it. This was found by the World Health Organization’s 2017 pre-review report on Cannabidiol.

Because of these facts and loosened FDA restrictions on research, a green rush has started within the cannabis industry, with CBD being found to be more palatable for mainstream consumers considering that it does not require smoking or getting high to reap its benefits.

And considering that you are reading this, you are probably thinking about starting a CBD or cannabis related business.

But, do you have a bank that will accept you, considering you’re a high risk merchant?

In this article, we’ll explain why finding a CBD friendly bank can be a challenge today, the current legal status of CBD in the US, why the Green rush can cause confusion for banks, and we’ll cover some of the key steps to finding a CBD friendly bank.

1.Consider your jurisdiction and current laws

This is the first thing you should consider when trying to find a CBD friendly bank.

The law will be crucial in determining your course of action moving forward, so ask yourself, “What are the laws pertaining to CBD where I reside?”, because this will shape your strategy moving forward.

Also, the better you adjust your strategy according to the jurisdiction your CBD business is in, the better equipped you’ll be to deal with the legal ambiguity under certain state laws that can make CBD friendly banks and payment processors avoid you.

Although Cannabis is growing in favorability among the public, we still need to remember that it’s currently a gray market.

Things started to shift a little more favorably with the 2018 Farm bill under the Trump administration, as it removed hemp from the DEA’s Schedule 1 controlled substance designation, but again, this legalization applies to the federal level and states do not necessarily have to comply.

Because of this, some states may still consider keeping Cannabis illegal to grow, sell and consume…

Bottomline, selling CBD derived from Marijuana is illegal because of the THC contents being over 0.3%, while CBD derived from hemp that is under 0.3% is not. With this information in mind, merchants will need to prove that their products contain legal levels of THC, and this is best achieved by having current Certificates of Analysis (COAs) for every CBD or hemp product being sold.

One common CBD product consumers love are distillates or oils.

Recently, there have been new distillates such as Delta-8, Delta-10 and Delta-O, which are all hemp derived isomers of Delta-9 THC. These products may prove to be lucrative for your business, but things can get tricky, especially considering that Delta-9 THC is the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis.

Currently these products have been legalized at the federal level, but there is some disagreement within specific states. Tread carefully if you sell these products, but also remember that there could be opportunities on the horizon if the federal government moves to regulate them in the future.

2.Issues that currently face eCommerce CBD retailers

It would seem reasonable to believe that due to the growing popularity of CBD products, online platforms would favor or encourage business within this field, but this currently isn’t the case.

Things can be tricky for eCommerce CBD retailers at this time, and it comes down to a few main things…

For starters, it can be hard for CBD retailers to find reputable financial services, because many MSP’s and credit card companies are afraid of legal liability due to the volatile nature of Cannabis laws.

And as much as the green rush continues to grow, there seems to still be a limited amount of options available, and with this shortage comes increased fees and variable business practices.

They probably know that mainstream banks and payment processors are unlikely to do business with you, and because of this, they may take advantage by overcharging you, and also changing their terms of service on a short notice, potentially jeopardizing your business operations.

Brick and mortar CBD retailers face similar problems, but they can at least accept cash. Keep in mind though that the risk of theft can increase with holding cash, and that many banks and/or credit unions will charge extra fees for armoured transportation.

Similarly, with online purchases, this is especially a tricky situation. Stripe, Visa and Paypal won’t process cannabis transactions, and because of this, some eCommerce stores use money order or pay by check.

These two options can present their problems though, as cheques can bounce, and money orders have extra fees that can create friction in the sales process…

And as mentioned earlier, there are conflicting laws on a state and federal level in addition to the other legalities that swarm this trending industry.

To make matters worse, advertising your CBD products online isn’t exactly easy either, because regulations on advertising platforms can be limiting and even restrictive.

Facebook and Instagram do not allow you to mention CBD in your ads, and they restrict you from making any serious medical claims. So you can still promote your CBD product, but you just have to make sure that you play by the rules, which can be a fine line…

And in terms of Google, they currently don’t allow the promotion of CBD products derived from cannabis, but it may be okay if it is derived from Hemp. This is a big IF, and you should proceed carefully to ensure that you won’t violate any of their other terms regarding pharmaceuticals, because it can lead to an indefinite account suspension.

3.Do your research

After considering the legalities and potential issues you may face in the eCommerce space, the next step in your journey to finding a CBD friendly bank is researching potential banks.

As simple as it may sound, it starts with a simple internet search.

You want to search for banks that are affiliated with this space, and take note of banks that are mentioned to be CBD friendly. It can be hard to find traditional banks that are okay dealing with high risk merchants, especially with Cannabis, so you may find that there are less options and more hoops to jump through. You may also find that many are credit unions instead of traditional for-profit banks, but don’t let this deter you. Credit unions can be just as helpful!

As you do further research, you should consider what the bank’s risk tolerance is, and whether they have some reservations. You want to also assess how well they monitor regulations, because the Cannabis industry is quickly shifting and very volatile. Also ask yourself, “When things do shift, how well do they adapt to new regulations?”

This is a key component to consider when choosing a bank.

In addition to monitoring and shifting to new regulations, you should also consider if the bank or payment processors mention that they have extensive experience with high risk merchants.

This is important because if they don’t, there may be a mismanagement of expectations on your end and theirs. You may be expecting them to accept a potentially high chargeback rate of your CBD products, and they may be only willing to capitalize on a trend, but not take a big risk.

This is why assessment beforehand and research are very important.

4.Be prepared when applying

You’ve considered your options, and now you’re ready to take the next step.

It’s now time for you to apply to the CBD friendly bank, but there are a few things you’ll have to consider beforehand. You will probably be considered a marijuana related business (MRB) at the bank during the application process, and as mentioned earlier, you will be considered high risk. This will lead to more scrutiny, so you need to be prepared.

You need to have a plan you can explain to address potentially high chargebacks, because this is still unfortunately an industry where customer satisfaction can vary even with your best intentions, and card-not present transactions (CNP) could occur.

You’ll also want to make sure that you have legal documents on hand to prove that your CBD product is created within the confines of the current law.

This is very important, because as mentioned earlier, the THC level will determine the legality of your product. At the end of the day, you need to do whatever you can to demonstrate that you are a good actor in the green rush, because banks may have a hard time differentiating between a scammer and a quality business.

This is why honesty and integrity are the best policy. Being transparent about your operations about changes within your business will help you avoid suspicions of fraud, having detailed documents will help keep things clear, and ultimately playing by the rules by avoiding legal loopholes that can come back to haunt you are some best practices to operate by.

5.Some banks/credit union that accept CBD businesses

So by this point you’ve done your research, and you’re prepared to do an application.

Maybe you already have some banks in mind, but in case you’re drawing a blank or are having trouble finding or choosing one, we figured we ‘d give you a few suggestions of some CBD friendly banks, and more specifically credit unions…

Partner Colorado Credit Union

Through their Safe Harbor program, this credit union has been accepting cannabis accounts since 2017, and is proving to be an ally to the CBD world. This is especially true considering that their CEO, Sundie Seefriend postponed her retirement to continue helping businesses in this growing industry.

Salal Credit Union

This is another great credit union that may prove beneficial for your business. They offer a wide array of services such as employee accounts, cash pickup and delivery services, and loans needed for capital related to your CBD business needs; not to mention you’ll even get a designated account manager to help you with all of this too! Keep in mind however, that you need to have your business operate in the Washington and Oregan area, and also have solid finances and credit to have the best chance of being accepted.

Timberland Bank

Yet another ally to CBD businesses, Timberland has been found to offer its banking services to this industry. Although this bank has been in business for over 100 years and can be reliable, they don’t seem to openly say that they work with the industry, and don’t appear to advertise it on their website. Regardless, SEC filings have demonstrated that they do have bank accounts from marijuana affiliated businesses, so an opportunity may be there for you.

Chase bank

Surprisingly, a large bank like Chase has also decided to jump onto the Cannabis bandwagon, but it seems like they are in the early stages so far. CBD-related bank accounts are allowed, but they haven’t yet allowed payment processing businesses within this industry. Considering their size and popularity, they want to protect their reputation and profits, so they will likely wait for legislation like the SAFE banking act to pass before moving any further. They could prove to be an ally to the CBD industry in the future, but only time will tell when or if they ever make the move to fully opening their services to this growing industry.

North Bay Credit Union

This is another credit union that jumped on the cannabis trend starting in 2017. Located in California, North Bay offers checking accounts for cannabis businesses, but also for businesses specifically selling hemp or CBD products. Keep in mind however that there is a non-refundable application fee of $1000, a monthly fee of $500, and your business should operate in Napa, Solano County, Marin or Sonoma county. In addition to price and location, being a member of the California Cannabis Industry Association (CCIA), the National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA), or the Sonoma County Farm Bureau will also make you eligible for membership.

Numerica Credit Union

Since 2014, Numerica has been a pioneer in the industry as they were one of the first credit unions to consider working with the CBD industry. This is a great credit union to be a part of for your CBD business, but one downside is that they mainly only serve businesses who reside in Washington. If you live outside the state, this won’t be a feasible option, but if you reside there, it can be an opportunity.

Summary

In short, finding a bank in this industry could prove to be challenging, even after the passing of the 2018 Farm bill. However, there are still opportunities, and the cannabis industry will likely continue to rise and gain favor within the banking industry as consumer attitudes shift, tastes change, and legislation follows along to regulate.

Legal status is the biggest concern for CBD businesses at the moment, and inconsistencies between state and federal legislation can prove to be damaging to business operations, making traditional banks consider you to be a higher risk than you already are.

This is why knowing your jurisdiction’s laws, knowing what issues face eCommerce CBD retailers and planning for your application will be crucial to your success.

The future looks promising for CBD, and according to Forbes, it’s projected to reach nearly $20 billion by the middle of this decade.

Are you ready for this opportunity?

8 ways to prepare for HOLIDAY SALES

Believe it or not, 2021 is almost coming to a close.

Nearly a whole year has passed, and the world has definitely changed since the end of 2019 and 2020. Boy does time fly fast!

As with most businesses, they often find themselves making the majority of their revenue in the Q4, and because of this, holiday sales are a crucial time. This rings especially true in the world of eCommerce, where sales have grown 32.2% during the holidays in 2020, compared to 2019 due to the pandemic, according to a CNBC report.

Times are a bit different now due to supply chain disruptions that continue to persist, but there have been some improvements in 2021. Still, there is some uncertainty on what exactly is going to happen next over the winter and beginning of next year.

Some analysts, like Digital Commerce 360 predict that 2021 sales will grow by a modest 12.1% year over year during this holiday season, and this is due to inventory shortages, cost increases and holiday marketing efforts that began earlier than usual.

We’ll have to see how things go, but there’s still room to profit, so you need to get ready!

So in that spirit, in this article, we will talk about 8 ways to prepare for holiday sales, and hopefully by the end of it, you will walk away with a better plan to truly capitalize on this holiday season.

1.Ensure that inventory is in stock

This may seem obvious, but can surprisingly be overlooked. One of the first things to do to prepare for holiday sales is to take stock.

You need to verify your inventory in your stockroom and warehouse in order to ensure that you have enough of what you need so you can avoid shortages and overselling. One of the worst things to do as a store is to sell something you don’t have, or have a customer eagerly waiting for a product, only to find out that it isn’t available anymore.

Definitely a big let down…

So we know the issue, but how do we avoid this problem?

A good methodology to use is the ABC analysis of inventory. This is a methodology that makes you focus on products that sell the most often, and designates them as the highest value goods. These goods are considered A-items, and using the pareto principle, they can be considered the 20% of items that make 80% of the sales, while B items can be 30% of the items that make up 15% of sales, and C being the bottom 50% that makes 5% of your revenue or less.

Doing this method will prove beneficial for your warehouse and sales during the holiday season, and in addition to inventory control, you also shouldn’t be afraid to verify if promotional prices are available with your suppliers.

Supply costs usually consist of 20-30% of inventory costs, so negotiating a better deal might not be a bad idea, especially during Q4.

So if you get a better deal with your supply, and you have a good sense for what the lead time is like, you’re definitely off to a great start!

2.Sell gift cards

This is a classic method, but is nevertheless still a useful one during the holiday season.

Selling gift cards may prove to be very beneficial for your revenue this 4th quarter, and this is because it has little to no profit loss, and customers have a tendency to spend more than what is on the giftcard.

According to a FirstData 2018 study, an average US consumer would spend $59 more than what is actually on the giftcard.

With that in mind, there’s something about using plastic to buy things rather than money that short circuits our brains… for better or for worse mind you.

A good way to promote your gift cards is to put it front and center to your customers, and a simple way to do this is by promoting it on the main page of your store. Putting a big banner, notifying your email list, and doing announcements on your social media channels are classic ways to get the word out about your card.

Giving away some free cards in contests can also be a way to drive some customers to your store, and considering that they may likely spend over the amount, you can make up for the initial loss of giving away the gift card.

3.Promo codes

A gift card can be great to have, but sometimes a promo code can be just as effective for some customers to encourage them to purchase more.

Many eCommerce stores give promo codes in exchange for emails, and this isn’t a bad trend to follow. However, you should also take it a step further, and offer a promo code just because the person visited your site; This rings especially true on a special occasion like a holiday season.

One great way to do this is by offering a promo code at the checkout, and this can pleasantly surprise your customers when they realize that there were hidden savings waiting for them.

But keep in mind, there are other ways to capitalize on this method, and it doesn’t just stop at hidden savings.

Something else you should consider doing is partnering with other businesses, and tapping into other customer market segments that are related to yours. They may have your same base of customers, so one idea is offering your promocode to their customers, and in exchange your partner can get a commission.

Bottomline, if you can create a win-win-win scenario between you, your business partner, and the customer, you’ll probably see a successful holiday season.

4.Loss leaders

This is yet another classic, but still effective marketing strategy that can attract more people onto your site and drive sales.

Simply put, loss leaders are products that are sold below market cost, in order to increase the sales of other products and services in your store, especially the ones that bring the most profit.

There can be some downsides to this method however, such as attracting clientele that may not be able to afford your more profitable products, but it can work if you strategize well enough and if the numbers add up at the end.

When using this method, you may want to consider selling inventory that moves slow.

This is inventory that for whatever reason, a slowdown in the market, competition, is not selling as well as it should have during the year.

In addition to slow moving inventory, selling complementary items can also prove to be beneficial for your business bottom line this holiday season. Any item that another product may need can prove to be lucrative as well, because you can upsell it with your loss leader and more profitable products at the checkout.

5.Holiday contests

In the era of social media, engagement with your customers has been found to be an effective marketing strategy, especially since the last decade. But it isn’t necessarily as simple as just posting a photo or a brief message; there has to be something that piques their interest!

During the holiday season, creating activities or contests that drive your customers to your website and incentivize them to buy is crucial during this time.

So what are some holiday contest ideas?

12 days of Christmas giveaway

In this classic method, your customers will sign up for a contest draw, and you will reveal a product that you are giving away to them over the 12 days before Christmas. You can maybe give away promo codes, discounts or gift cards as well.

Buy one get one free

This is yet another well established marketing strategy for the holiday season, that incentivizes purchasing more of a product, but can also increase the buying temperature of your customers as well, and lead to more sales of other products.

Early access deals

Why not reward your current customers on your email list by sending them an early access deal before anyone else who visits your store? Give them priority to buy a hot product before the holiday rush, and give them a discount as well.

Social media contest

Maybe you can ask them to post a photo with a product of yours, show proof that they shared with a friend, or do a more the best photo or review contest.

6.Be creative with payment plans

Many people will want to buy this holiday season to take advantage of the deals, but also because they find enjoyment in the buying experience.

Unfortunately, some of your customers may not be able to afford what you have to offer, either because it is an expensive product out of their price range, or because they have been negatively affected by the current economic situation.

Because of this, it may be a good idea to offer different payment plans for certain products.

Here are some Payment plan options:

Deferred billing

If you sell very expensive products, like for example furniture, automotive, or other expensive retail items, consider doing a grace period before payments are made. You can also reward your customer with an interest free period if they make a payment by a specific deadline.

Integrate with Buy now pay later (BNPL) companies

The FinTech field is definitely a growing scene, and key players like Klarna, Afterpay, and Affirm are growing in mainstream adoption. Klarna for example offers their signature Pay in 4 option, allowing the customer to pay once every two weeks.

These companies run on the BNPL model, and according to Yahoo news, eCommerce giants like Amazon have integrated with Affirm to pay later for items over $50. They do run a credit check, but they consider it to be a “soft credit check”,so it does not affect the customers credit score.

So with that in mind, why not offer these payment options in your store?

7.Optimize online store as much as possible

Increased sales are great, but with that comes increased traffic, and a greater potential for technical difficulties to occur, both on the IT side, and the store front side.

On the IT side, this is all too common nowadays, especially with IT infrastructures that aren’t updated correctly, and that have security vulnerabilities that haven’t been discovered.

With that in mind, talk to your IT team or Managed service provider about your concerns, and make sure that they have a back up plan for you if a server should crash from an increase in traffic. Backup servers are an industry standard in the IT field, but make sure they are doing what they’re supposed to before your holiday sales period.

Once you know that your IT infrastructure is good, you then want to make sure that everything from your mobile web pages, sales copy, images, upsell funnels and checkout processes work well.

And by well, we mean fast and without errors.

According to the Baymard Institute, 26% of customers leave a checkout page because it takes too long/glitches, so it’s safe to say that this isn’t a component you want to skip on.

So make sure you do a website audit to ensure that there aren’t any bugs that can lead to a website crash, slow page loading, or worse, issues with checkout and payment; An effective audit should reveal issues if any.

Once you’ve established that things are working properly on the IT side and eCommerce side, a good final step is to have an emergency plan in place so that you won’t panic in the event of a glitch, or in the face of customer service issues.

8.Make it easy to contact support

Tying into the last point about optimizing your online store as much as possible, a critical component of this is adding a human touch to your eCommerce store: Live customer service.

You should have a live chat option, and ideally a representative or representatives waiting. You should also make your phone number or email clearly visible, because the more transparent you are, the more you’ll be perceived as trustworthy. And if you actually help your customers with any queries, you’ll win even more points with them.

Oftentimes, it can be tempting to skip on this component, hoping that no issues will arise, or worse, that your customers will just contact your email and you’ll respond to them days later…

This isn’t a good move, and it can tarnish your reputation, create hesitation to buy products, and also lead to chargebacks if issues should arise with the product quality. The internet is crawling with fraud, particularly since the start of the pandemic, so the last thing you want to do is put yourself in that category in the mind’s of your customers.

So to avoid this, do the right thing, and have representatives available.

Summary

Time really does fly fast, and who knew that we’d already be at Q4!

Revenues may dip a bit this year compared to pre-pandemic numbers, but the opportunity is still there. This part of the year can be profitable nonetheless, and you increase your odds of going in the black by implementing good strategies and by adjusting if things go wrong.

Make sure that inventory is in stock, and be sure to use classic methods like giving promo codes, selling gift cards, and using loss leaders to drive sales for your other more profitable products. From there, you can take it a step further and do holiday contests on social media to drive organic engagement with your customer base, and hopefully attract new ones to your store on the big day.

And if you optimize your store, offer flexible payment plans, and you have good customer support, you’re well on your way to a great setup for your holiday success. Best of luck!

Checkout Abandonment: Causes and solutions explained

If you’re familiar in any way with eCommerce, which considering that you’re reading this you probably are, you’re probably aware of the tendency for shoppers to abandon their carts, often leaving for various reasons such as shopping on competitors sites and bad reviews.

Abandoned carts are common in the eCommerce world, about 70% of carts go abandoned, but how aware are you of the even more critical issue of checkout abandonment?

This is a serious issue because this is truly where the money is, and it often gets overlooked in comparison to abandoned carts. You may be wondering how common checkout abandonment is, and the answer is that it happens fairly often, because according to compass.co, about 25% of checkouts get abandoned.

With that said, it would probably be a good idea to optimize this process as much as you can to regain lost revenue and truly reach your business potential!

So in this article, we will go over the key differences between checkout abandonment and cart abandonment, the main causes of checkout abandonment, the solutions, and why optimizing isn’t enough when it comes to eCommerce and high risk merchants.

The Differences between Checkout Abandonment and Cart Abandonment

You’re at least aware of these common occurrences in the field of eCommerce, but are you aware of their differences?

In brief, the main differences between checkout and cart abandonment can simply be boiled down to when the client decides to abandon their cart and leave the site. When it’s an abandoned cart, this means that items were put in the cart, but they were abandoned before the checkout.

Similarly, when we talk about checkout abandonment, we’re simply referring to a customer leaving at the checkout process, oftentimes entering payment information but not fully purchasing. This can be a frustrating issue to deal with, because it appears that your marketing is working, and that your customers are interested in purchasing your products, only to then find out that they weren’t really going to buy… Or so it seems.

Fundamentally, in order to solve this problem, you need to understand the main causes before you can find the solutions.

The main causes of checkout abandonment

So why does checkout abandonment happen? It’s often because of several factors combined together, and rarely because of just one thing.

You have to keep in mind that the more complicated your checkout process is, the more likely it is that your customer will start to lose patience and want to go elsewhere. This is the fundamental underlying factor behind abandonment, and you need to assess your checkout experience.

Do you have any of these issues?

An unoptimized and confusing checkout experience
A very complicated checkout form
Slow page loading speeds
Glitches and errors when checking out
Additional hidden charges
Requiring users to create an account
Not enough payment options in addition to popular ones
Lack of payment security
A checkout appearance that doesn’t generate trust

There could be other issues, but this list is a great starting point that can cover a lot of ground and get your optimization rates up. Also keep in mind that there are some points that have more weight than others, and you need to look at your analytics to see when and where your customers are dropping off.

Remember that in recent years, data from the Baymard Institute has shown that cart abandonment happens around 7 out 10 times, but it is also important to note that 2020 data has found that nearly 60% of US online shoppers abandoned due to just browsing, because they weren’t ready to buy. https://baymard.com/lists/cart-abandonment-rate

So you need to factor in looky-loos as well, but data will give a clearer picture, so start collecting it if you aren’t already…

Solutions

So what are the solutions to checkout abandonment?

It really depends on the quality of your current layout, but oftentimes it’s doing the right thing at the right time. More specifically, you need to consider that checkout abandonment happens due to 3 fundamental reasons.

According to the Baymard Institute, these are:

Hidden fees at checkout
The requirement to create an account
An overly complex checkout process

These were found to be the most common reasons customers abandon at the checkout, so you want to make sure you address these issues head on, because these are the key movers that really make or break conversion rates!

With these in mind, you want to make sure that you at least have:

In addition to payment security, a trust-worthy look to your checkout page
Clear payment requirements that include fees regarding shipping
A clear checkout process with minimal fields
Eliminate the requirement for an account
Quick page load speeds

If you can handle these issues, you’ll in all likelihood see an increase in conversion rates.

Why optimizing is not enough for High-risk merchants…

We’ve established what causes and what you should do when dealing with checkout abandonment, and by now you’re well aware of the benefits of optimization within the world of eCommerce.

However, things can get a bit more tricky as a High-risk merchant…

You may optimize your cart and checkout processes to avoid abandonments, and this will likely lead to more sales in the long-run, however, success for a business also depends on the industry that it operates in.

As a merchant operating in a high-risk vertical, you may likely find yourself dealing with abandonments and chargebacks even more frequently than traditional eCommerce merchants, and this isn’t really an optimization issue, it’s an industry issue.

Don’t get it twisted, optimization is crucial, but only if certain components are in place and the environment is right. So once you’ve done the legwork to optimize, what’s next?

If you’re operating a WooCommerce store and experiencing any checkout abandonment or general cart experience issues, our Web Development partners WP Concierges will guide you in the right direction.