With so many ways to accept payment online, you might be feeling a little overwhelmed deciding which one to offer your customers. While it’s a good idea to offer a selection of options, as this is generally what people expect from a well-run store, you can’t possibly offer everything. Here are some tips to help you make your decision.
The Options
All of the options available to you can be narrowed down into two categories: modern, PayPal for example, and classic, such as credit card payments.
Modern methods: PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Wallet, etc., are very easy to set up. You can do it online in less than an hour, and be ready to sell straight away. However, the drawback is that there is a fee per transaction, which can be up to 3%. You’re basically paying for the convenience, even though they’re usually free to set up.
If you want to set up credit or debit card payments, you will need to set up a merchant bank account. E-commerce stores are often considered high risk by many banks, so you need to look at providers such as www.highriskpay.com to help you set one up. You may also need a Payment Gateway account. This account handles verification and transfer requests and communicates with the banks on your behalf.
Trust
This is a big thing to consider. Not only do you need to trust that you’ll receive all of your takings, but your customers are handing over their payment details. They will feel a lot more comfortable doing this if a brand they trust is involved. This trust is largely why credit and debit cards are still used for most payments online. People trust what they know.
If you want to offer further options, having a big name on your checkout could help inspire trust. Consider Apple Pay, Google Wallet and Amazon Payments.
Know Your Market
Have a good look at your target market, and your current site visitors. Base your decisions on which payment options you offer around site analytics. Research, speak to people, and find out which payment methods they’d expect to see somewhere they shop. Or which they prefer using. These results may not be what you expect, so be prepared to consider alternatives. Another way to do this would be directly asking viewers of your site for their opinions. If you’ve got any kind of email subscription, it would be a great way to communicate the question to your followers. Or something simple like posting a poll on social media could give you a really good insight as to what customers want and expect.
There are many great, easy, and trustworthy ways to take payment on your E-commerce site. Do some research and find the right one for you and your customers. Remember, it is better to offer a range of options to please more people. You are not stuck with these choices forever. If you want to try something different at a later date, the options you rule out now will still be available to you.
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