What are NUMOs and Why are They an Issue for eCommerce Brands?

You get new visitors to your ecommerce site. They grab some of your products and throw them in their cart. They head to checkout…

But then it happens. Their debit card is rejected. The screen freezes. The journey to payment feels too laborious so they stop.

These are the particularities that give birth to NUMOs – the New User Missed Opportunity. They they are a growing issue for ecommerce brands and retailers, and are fueled by false declines in payment – which is generally due to holes in the consumer data from rating agencies.

Yet there are ways to solve this problem.

NUMOs have been around for many years but they’ve only become noticeable now that their growth has accelerated. Not only are online shoppers shopping more online but those old-school shoppers – who would only or mostly drive to a physical store to get their groceries – have also moved over into the digital mall.

“The fact that the number of new shoppers has doubled compared to pre-COVID-19 levels makes this an urgent issue for most merchants,” said co-founder of Forter Alon Shemesh. “Their current approach to fraud prevention is curbing their potential business revenue and growth.”

If brands and retailers are able to convert these potential customers into regulars, it would provide a huge boost in value. But the starting point is stark: new visitors to an ecom site are 5-7 times more likely to have their payment declined than regular customers, and the chief cause is that lack of consumer data.

Although there is room for hope, because 60% of these declined new users will pluck up the courage to try again. And with more online shoppers than ever before, that’s a lot of potential revenue and brand value. But many merchants undervalue this side of the business, and rely on outdated or legacy solutions to tackle fraud and security issues.

We know that trust is built slowly and lost quickly. And those potential customers flock to other brands. In fact, according to a report, almost 50% of lost revenue goes directly to a competitor. And thanks to the same report, we now know the average amount per customer that is lost according to each category.

• Food and drink category: $1,062 yearly per customer
• Clothing and accessories category: $930 yearly per customer
• Home and garden category: $798 yearly per customer
• The health and beauty category: $243 yearly per customer

“This is a significant finding,” added Alon, “that merchants should care about and will significantly impact them if they do not change their approach… “As these falsely declined users are unlikely to return, we can further extrapolate that the lifetime value loss per customer has a significant impact on revenue potential for each merchant.”

The brands and retailers who are managing to funnel through these short-term problematic consumers are able to win them over and build relationships with them. And they’re doing this by partnering with trustworthy consultancies that have secured brands’ websites and enabled them to convert NUMOs to long-paying customers. Consultancies like ArganoUV.

We use a range of digital solutions and platforms to strengthen safety and security of ecommerce sites for some of the best and most well-known brands in the world. And one we’ve used A LOT is Salesforce Commerce Cloud – the ecommerce platform of choice for high-volume, complex brands that equips them with powerful and personalized functionality.

PS: ArganoUV is one of the world’s leading Salesforce B2C Commerce Cloud development & strategy teams. Contact us to see how we can work together.