---
title: "How installments and payment options affect conversion"
author: "Performetic Ekibi"
url: "https://www.performetic.com/en/blog/installments-payment-options-conversion"
published: "2026-10-15T12:00:00.000Z"
updated: "2026-10-15T12:00:32.771Z"
---

# How installments and payment options affect conversion

> Payment options directly affect conversion: in Baymard's research, 9% of shoppers who abandon checkout cite too few payment methods. In Turkey, installments are expected for mid and high-ticket products, cash on delivery builds trust for new brands and shopping loans win customers without cards. Decide on profit per delivered order, not on conversion rate.

## How do installments and payment options affect conversion?

Payment options decide whether a visitor finishes checkout. In Baymard Institute's research, 9% of shoppers who abandoned checkout said there weren't enough payment methods. In Turkey, installments, cash on delivery and shopping loans are the three main ways to close that gap, and the right mix depends on price point and audience.

This post isn't about checkout design. It's about which payment options you offer and how each one affects conversion. We cover the checkout flow itself in our [checkout optimization guide](/en/blog/checkout-page-optimization-guide).

## Why do Turkish shoppers care so much about installments?

Paying for purchases in credit card installments is a habit in Turkey, especially for mid and high-ticket products. When a visitor looks at an 8,000 TL product, they often work out the monthly installment rather than the total price. If the product page doesn't show installment information, switching to a marketplace that offers the same product in installments takes seconds.

So installments work as more than a checkout option. They're a sales argument on the product page. A line such as "up to 9 installments" right under the price makes the decision easier.

## Who sets the number of installments, and are there limits?

Credit card installment counts aren't a free choice. Turkey's banking regulator, BDDK, sets maximum installment counts by sector, and the limits change from time to time. Credit card installments aren't allowed on new (non-refurbished) mobile phones, for example. In some categories the limit also depends on the product price.

In practice: confirm with your payment provider how many installments your category allows, and never advertise more than the legal limit. Who pays the installment interest depends on your agreement with the provider, so build it into your margin calculation.

## Should you offer cash on delivery?

Cash on delivery eases the trust concern of first-time visitors who don't know the brand yet. In the same Baymard research, 19% of shoppers who abandoned checkout said they didn't trust the site with their card details. For new, lesser-known brands, that's a big leak.

But cash on delivery has a price: orders that are never collected, return shipping costs and slower cash flow. A pattern we see often is cash on delivery lifting conversion while also lifting the share of undelivered orders. Decide on profit per delivered order, not on conversion rate.

On Shopify, cash on delivery can be set up as a manual payment method. These orders show as unpaid until you collect the money and mark them as paid.

## Do shopping loans and buy now, pay later options work?

A shopping loan lets customers without a credit card, or without enough limit, pay over time through a bank. Payment providers such as iyzico offer it inside their existing checkout integration: the customer picks a bank and completes the process on the bank's screen.

This option matters most for high-ticket products like furniture, home appliances, electronics accessories and sports equipment. For a brand selling 500 TL t-shirts, the effect is small. Because the bank redirect is an extra step, word the payment button accordingly; Baymard recommends that the button says clearly when the customer is about to be sent to another site.

## Which payment option fits which situation?

| Payment option | Effect on conversion | Cost and risk | Best fit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single card payment | Baseline expectation; no sale without it | Provider commission | Every store |
| Card installments | Eases mid and high-ticket decisions | Depends on who absorbs installment interest | High basket value categories |
| Cash on delivery | Reduces trust concerns | Uncollected orders, return shipping | New brands, first orders |
| Shopping loan | Wins customers without cards | Extra redirect step | High-ticket products |
| Bank transfer | Niche alternative | Manual tracking, delays | B2B and bulk orders |
| Digital wallet | Fast mobile payment | Requires integration | Mobile-heavy stores |

Treat the table as a starting point. Your basket value, margin and return rate decide the right mix.

## How should you test payment options?

Adding a payment option is easy. Measuring its effect properly is harder. Work through it in this order:

1. **Measure where you stand.** In GA4, note the share of visitors who reach checkout and then buy, split by device.
2. **Pull the payment method mix.** Get the last 90 days of usage by method from your payment provider's dashboard.
3. **Change one thing at a time.** If you add cash on delivery and change installment counts at once, you can't separate the effects.
4. **Make it visible on the product page.** Installment and cash on delivery information shouldn't live only in checkout.
5. **Judge on delivered orders.** With cash on delivery especially, count delivered orders, not created ones.
6. **Decide on profit.** Compare contribution margin after installment interest, commission and return shipping.

Example: a store taking 1,000 orders a month adds cash on delivery and gets 1,120. If part of those extra orders are never collected, the net gain is smaller than it first looks. That's why step six can't be skipped.

## Do payment options affect ad performance too?

They do. Meta and Google algorithms learn from purchase signals. Every visitor lost at checkout is a lost sale and a missing signal for the algorithm. When better payment options lift your conversion rate, the same ad budget produces more purchase signals, and over time that pushes acquisition cost down.

We cover choosing a payment provider in our post on [virtual POS and payment providers in Turkey](/en/blog/virtual-pos-payment-provider-turkey). How payment options are shown on product pages and at checkout is a regular part of our [conversion-focused design](/en/services/conversion-focused-design) work. If you want to see where your payment mix is costing you conversions, request a [free growth audit](/en/contact).

## Key takeaways

- Missing payment options cost sales; in Baymard's research, 9% of shoppers who abandoned checkout said there weren't enough payment methods.
- Installments are expected in Turkey for mid and high-ticket products; show them next to the price on the product page.
- Installment counts follow BDDK's sector limits; confirm with your payment provider before promising them.
- Cash on delivery builds trust but brings uncollected orders; decide on profit per delivered order.
- Shopping loans matter most for high-ticket products.
- Test one change at a time and judge results on profit after commission, installment interest and returns.


## FAQ

### Does showing installments on an ecommerce site increase sales?

For mid and high-ticket products it usually does, because Turkish shoppers look at the monthly installment more than the total price. The effect is strongest when installment information sits next to the price on the product page. For low-ticket products the effect is small, but offering it at checkout still meets expectations.

### Is cash on delivery worth offering?

For new, lesser-known brands it can lift conversion because it eases trust concerns. It also brings costs: orders that are never collected, return shipping and slower cash flow. Base the decision on profit per delivered order rather than on the number of orders created.

### Can an online store choose its own number of card installments?

Not freely. BDDK, Turkey's banking regulator, sets maximum installment counts by sector, and some categories, such as new mobile phones, can't be sold in credit card installments at all. Confirm the limit for your category with your payment provider and never advertise more installments than the law allows.

### Which products benefit from shopping loans?

High-ticket products such as furniture, home appliances and electronics benefit most, because a shopping loan lets customers without a credit card or enough limit pay over time. For low-ticket products the effect is limited. Since the bank redirect adds a step, the payment button should say clearly where the customer is going.

## Sources

- [Baymard Institute: Cart abandonment rate and checkout abandonment reasons](https://baymard.com/lists/cart-abandonment-rate)
- [Baymard Institute: Payment method selection research](https://baymard.com/blog/payment-method-selection)
- [iyzico Developer Docs: Shopping Loan (Alışveriş Kredisi) integration](https://docs.iyzico.com/urunler/alisveris-kredisi/alisveris-kredisi-entegrasyonu)
- [Shopify Help Center: Manual payment methods (cash on delivery)](https://help.shopify.com/manual/payments/manual-payments)