The world of collectibles is a “real business” with a passionate following. When it comes to trading cards, the Topps brand is in “a league of its own,” according to an update shared by Checkout.com.
The company known for its legendary baseball cards “has made its first foray into digital collectibles with Topps Digital.” The introduction of apps and an NFT platform is “intended to usher in the new era of collecting.”
Topps Digital has partnered with Checkout.com “to provide its global customers with a seamless and secure shopping experience to meet the increasing demand for digital collectibles.”
Samantha Wood, Customer Support and Community Manager at Topps Digital, said:
“The payment experience is fundamental to brand loyalty and continued growth. That’s why we partnered with Checkout.com. Checkout.com’s global payment platform makes it possible to offer our digital collectors a smooth and secure checkout experience.”
Onboarding Checkout.com in the US
The partnership between the two companies “began in the summer of 2021 when Topps used Digital Checkout.com as their payment partner in markets outside of the US.”
Topps Digital chose Checkout.com “as its international payment service provider because of the company’s global presence.” However, it wasn’t long before Wood “suggested Checkout.com as a payment provider in the US, where 80% of its sales come from.”
Wood added:
“The payment experience that we were able to offer our international customers thanks to Checkout.com was far superior to that of our US customers. Due to resource limitations, we were initially unable to transfer our US payments to Checkout.com.”
However, that all changed after Topps Digital “discovered that there was a high level of chargeback fraud in the US.”
Wood further noted:
“It was a really big shock. What was worse, there was no clear process for contesting these chargebacks, which led to a lot of losses.”
After this incident, Topps Digital immediately began “planning to acquire Checkout.com as a payment processor in the US.”
21% reduction in chargeback fraud cases
After the integration in the US, Checkout.com was able “to activate its Fraud Detection Pro solution for Topps Digital.” The fraud prevention solution “enables organizations to deploy sophisticated fraud management strategies and improve risk performance.”
Wood explained:
“We could see the positive impact of Fraud Detection Pro right away. The solution is incredibly flexible and allows us to create unique rules. In addition, these rules are supplemented with machine learning functions that recognize even new types of fraud attempts.”
Today, Topps Digital’s average chargeback rate “is under 1%, up from 22% at its peak before moving to Checkout.com.”
Wood also mentioned:
“It’s a huge improvement that pays off in the end. Thanks to Checkout.com’s Fraud Detection Pro solution and the expertise of the team, we were able to achieve these results.”
Improving the shopping experience for US customers
With chargeback issues under control, Wood and her team “can now focus on leveraging the entire Checkout.com platform to provide their US customers with a superior customer experience.”
Wood also noted:
“Before we worked with Checkout.com, about 40% of collectors were having trouble making a purchase. Today, only 5% of collectors experience difficulties – 90% of the time it is due to problems with their credit card.”
Explaining the positive impact the improved payment performance has on Topps Digital, Wood says:
“Our customers are very satisfied and it ensures they have access to the collectibles they want. This is especially crucial when there is a new limited supply drop.”
Wood pointed out:
“It’s also reduced the burden on customer support. We are no longer inundated with calls from angry customers who are unable to complete their transaction. And when an unusual problem occurs, Checkout.com tells us why the payment failed with the exact response code. With the information provided, we can directly support our customers in completing the purchase and turning a seemingly bad experience into a positive one.”
With less pressure to respond to customer queries, Wood’s team “can now be more strategic and add value to the business.”
Wood added:
“The Checkout.com dashboard is incredibly intuitive and gives us a wealth of customer information. We were able to use this information to make better business decisions, such as planning new product launches and ensuring sufficient supply to maximize demand.”
With Checkout.com as a payment provider, Topps Digital has “found the right partner to implement its ambitious goals.”
Wood concluded:
“We’re on a mission to digitize the world of collectibles. To achieve that, we need a first-class, future-proof payment solution that can grow with our needs. We found this solution with Checkout.com and we look forward to using the platform to offer our customers more payment options in even more markets.”