In the times when online shopping is not linked to computers anymore, it is very important to adjust the ways and forms of payment so that users could make their orders as fast and comfortable as with computers. Let’s have a closer look at the payment methods you could adopt right now.
Shopping has been done online more often now. It is a very important trend as many internet users and brands are now shifting from traditional merchandise. New portable devices, the use of social media in the selling and buying process require taking up some novelties also in the case of payments. Luckily, on the market, there are more and more options that can be included in the online shops’ infrastructure. Especially that the incorporation of more convenient paying option can be beneficial for the platform itself and increase its conversion rate by even 20%.
Debit and credit cards online
Letting your customers pay online by their debit or credit cards is the most essential payment method to be offered. Being able to accept payments done with Visa, MasterCard and American Express means to allow a number of potential buyers to shop at your site and get their goods almost immediately. Visa is said to be used in almost 47% of online transactions, Master Card is used in 21% of deals, whereas American Express -12% (the statistics as of 2015 in the United States).
If you operate in the countries that make use of checks, you may want to introduce some eChecks. An electronic check will allow a buyer to insert some information from a regular check: the routing and account number, names, authorization, etc., in an online form. A payment will be processed automatically, your presence at the bank will not be necessary.
Mobile devices instead of debit cards
It is estimated that the share of purchases made with the use of mobile devices and tablets will increase up to 69%. For this reason, their users will require their favorite payment methods to be adjusted to their portable devices as well. Mobile phones and tablets are at the moment the sources of entertainment, but soon they will become other tools that allow people to do shopping. You have to be prepared that your customers will ask you to allow them to buy things in the easiest and the most convenient way. Keeping credit cards numbers is becoming something normal now and payments can be confirmed through emails. E-mail boxes could be the destinations to send online receipts, too.
Some time ago, a survey of online customers was conducted. The results showed that around 22% of persons asked were in favor of making and using an one-click button to pay for their groceries. Therefore, this could be a good idea to include such an option in your shop’s infrastructure. You should also be aware of the fact developers are also looking for a way to make the feature a tool combining advertising, payments and loyalty.
Online payment getaways
Letting your customers pay directly on a website means to add to it a special form. For those of them who want to do their shopping more often, you may offer to create special accounts where their payment information can be stored and used for future reference. According to research conducted in 2015 and 2016, online shops who offered these features could observe an increase of 72% in customers making their orders with these websites.
Alternatively, you can cooperate with a financial company that provides online payment options to host the payment form, provide really secure payment processing and makes storing the financial data of your customers safer.
E-mail invoicing
This option gives you the possibility to bill a customer, send your receipt through an e-mail and get the payment immediately a buyer has made some clicks. If this system is also fully integrated, which means that it includes an e-mail option and a web payment form, it can also ease your reporting as an invoice that has been paid by a customer is at the same time marked as paid in your database.
In case you sell monthly subscriptions, the best and the most convenient way of paying for them is to set a recurring billing service. Such a feature guarantees that your money is on your account on time and your customers do not worry if they have missed an invoice.
The future of payment
New advances in technology will be a great source of new payment options that can be adopted by online sellers. Their common feature will be to provide comfort and easiness of paying. At the moment, customers in China can use Alipay and WeChat — lifestyle applications — to pay for some of their orders. The wallets offered with the apps are moving west, therefore, soon we will have to prepare to accept such payments.
At the moment due to many legal restrictions and doubts, it is unknown whether or not cryptocurrency will also change online payments. However, it is sure that the technology behind it will allow for faster processing. Maybe we will just stick to EMV or chip card solutions.
