When you have an e-commerce business you must decide which payment method you are going to use on your website. The payment method you choose is critical.
You want to get paid and you want to make sure that when your customers attempt to pay they are not frustrated. This means that you will need to make sure that you have a payment method in place that is easy to use and effective.
Here’s a look at some of the things you need to keep in mind when choosing a method of payment for your e-commerce website.
Think About Customer Preferences
The preferences of your customers are something that you must keep in mind when you are trying to select a payment method for your e-commerce store. The best way to find out how your target audience prefers to pay is by scouting out what your competitors are doing.
By taking note of what is working for them and even testing it out yourself by ordering a few products, you will understand what payment methods will work best for your audience.
A word of caution though, while you should look at how your competitors are doing things, if you find that it’s not working for you try switching things up to see what works for you.
The Fees
You must think about the fees that you will incur by using a specific payment method on your website. You always want to make sure that these fees are as affordable as possible.
The last thing you want is to have exorbitant fees. These can significantly cut into your profits and you should try to avoid that at all costs.
When you’re running an e-commerce business the goal is always to be as profitable as possible. Exorbitant fees will distract from this purpose, so it is always best to carefully consider what you can afford to pay and even what you can allow your customers to pay in terms of transaction fees as well.
Platform Integration
There are several different types of e-commerce platforms out there. Not all of them will be compatible with the payment system that you choose to use.
You must make sure that the payment method you want to use will work seamlessly. Hiccups can cost you money.
When customers want to pay for a product and they are not able to do so quickly, this can frustrate them enormously. This is how they end up abandoning their cart.
If someone ends up abandoning their cart, they may never come back to it. This means that you have lost a possible sale forever.
If this happens in volume you could end up losing lots of money. Always make sure that your method of payment integrates seamlessly into any platform that you are using. You can try to use this credit card reader from North American Bancard as a starting point.
Additionally, it can also be important to understand how hosted payment pages work and the nuances of different implementation methods. These pages can be important to safely collect payment information, but their integration can affect customer trust and conversion rates. For a smooth transaction, you can consider the benefits of a hosted payment page vs iframe for more information. This can help in understanding how it influences the customer’s checkout journey and the level of control you can maintain over the user experience.
The Location of Your Target Audience
It’s important that you carefully consider the geographical location of your target audience. It’s always best to use payment methods customers are comfortable with.
If you select a payment method that is not widely used, people will be hesitant to use them and you may not be able to get as many customers. For example, using Google Pay may be popular in one country, while cash on delivery is popular in another. Another example may be that using credit cards for all payments is widely accepted in one country while in another you will have better luck asking your customers to make bank transfers.
Select Your Method
By now you should understand how important it is for you to select the correct payment method for your e-commerce store. You should try to ensure that you do your research and find out not just what your competitors are doing but what your audience responds to, this is key.
Once you find out the best methods to use for collecting your payments, you should try to find a provider who can give you the best service. There are many different providers out there and you must try to select the most convenient one for your business.
Failure to do this turns your audience away from your business and this can impact your profit significantly. By taking into consideration all the things that have been discussed here, you are more likely to make the right choices for your business and this can have a huge impact on your success.