Mastercard’s product director Irina Lapshina discusses transformative approaches to E-commerce and workforce development
Over the past decade, the e-commerce industry has undergone dramatic changes, transforming how consumers approach online shopping. According to Statista, the global e-commerce market has grown from $1.3 trillion in 2014 to over $5.7 trillion in 2024. Nevertheless, more than 70% of shopping carts are still abandoned during the checkout process, highlighting significant challenges that marketers and other experts continue to address.
However, these years have also seen positive changes. Many industry giants have played a key role in transforming the sector by introducing advanced technologies and creating more convenient payment solutions. This process required not only technological innovation but also a deep understanding of user needs. Experts working at the intersection of technology and user experience are constantly improving the online shopping process. Irina Lapshina, Mastercard’s Product Director with over a decade of experience in pioneering e-commerce innovations, has been instrumental in driving these advancements in the European region.
According to her analysis, e-commerce has undergone significant transformations in recent years, driven by the need to address key challenges and adapt to changing consumer expectations. Industry trends show a growing focus on simplifying customer interactions across all stages of the purchase journey, leveraging advanced technologies to streamline processes, and offering more flexible payment solutions. These developments are reshaping the online shopping experience, setting new standards for convenience, personalization, and security in the digital marketplace.
Streamlined checkout: reducing barriers
One of the main reasons shoppers abandon carts is the complexity of the checkout process. In the early 2010s, many online stores required mandatory registration or presented users with lengthy forms containing numerous fields, leading to a loss of interest and, ultimately, abandoned orders.
Lapshina was working on a research of users behavior during the checkout process to better understand the reasons of cart abandonment. Her team conducted usability tests to identify where customers were dropping off and collaborated with many merchants to simplify the customer journey. Under her leadership, key market merchants introduced improvements to checkout options including dynamic progress indicators while filling in the data fields, allowing users to navigate the process more intuitively. Lapshina’s efforts also included redesigning of form layouts to reduce the number of required fields, introducing form autofill for delivery addresses, eliminating mandatory account registration. These innovations collectively helped reduce cart abandonment rates by 21% on a selected merchants’ websites. .
Card-on-file functionality: one-click convenience
One of the most important payment use cases in recent years has been the mass implementation of card-on-file functionality. This technology allows customers to securely save payment data and make subsequent purchases in one click. It became particularly popular during the COVID-19 pandemic when the demand for online and in-app shopping surged.
“The ability to set up automatic payments or to pay faster without re-entering data has been key for many users,” explains Lapshina. She emphasizes the importance of security: “This functionality works only when customers trust the protection of their data. We’ve worked extensively to educate markets on PSD2 rules implementation, including strong customer authentication, on using advanced encryption protocols and to ensure confidentiality.”
Irina’s team implemented merchant tokenization in Europe to replace sensitive card details with a token – a card number alias. She also advocated for integrating Strong Customer Authentication together along with tokens, ensuring that even saved payment credentials remained secure. Irina has been educating market players on how to apply European regulations related to authentication and storing card details to tokenized e-commerce and in-app payments. These optimisation solutions not only ensured higher security but increased transaction success rates to up to 4%.
Diverse payment methods: prioritizing customer choice
Modern shoppers are accustomed to having choices, and this applies not only to goods or services but also to payment methods. Digital wallets, installment payments, and BNPL (buy now, pay later) services have become integral to contemporary e-commerce.
Expanding payment options was crucial for online merchants. With that in mind, Lapshina led the integration of emerging payment solutions, ensuring they were easy to implement and accessible to customers worldwide. “We are focused on having a payment ecosystem with interoperable payment methods where consumers have choice of how to pay, whether it is a digital wallet, installments, card or token payment” she explains. Lapshina also championed the inclusion of localized payment solutions in various regions, helping merchants attract and retain customers in diverse markets. Her contributions directly supported an increase in customer satisfaction and repeat transactions.
What’s next?
Over the past decade, e-commerce has come a long way, evolving from a niche market into an integral part of daily life for millions worldwide. Today, it combines convenience, security, and personalization — features that were unimaginable just a few years ago. Thanks to the efforts of experts like Irina, the shopping process has become not only simpler but significantly more enjoyable for end users.
However, despite impressive progress, e-commerce continues to evolve. In the coming years, the focus is expected to shift toward deeper integration of artificial intelligence and machine learning to analyze user behavior, the development of omnichannel experience solutions, and the adoption of new payment models such as cryptocurrencies and biometric authentication, Lapshina predicts.
She underscores the importance of constant adaptation: “The industry changes every day. Successful companies are those that can quickly respond to consumer demands and strike a balance between innovation and convenience.”
Lapshina also forecasts further growth in localized solutions. “We see how localized payment tools help attract more customers in different regions. This direction will play a critical role in the competitive landscape,” she says. “E-commerce is becoming increasingly individualized, meeting the specific needs of users. Companies that can offer unique, personalized, and secure solutions will gain a competitive advantage.”
