Whether you have a big or small business, targeting the online audience is one of the best decisions you will ever make. There are billions of people using the internet everyday, with thousands or millions of these people matching your target demographic. Ecommerce has seen the rise of many enterprises, some of which operate exclusively online.
One of the most important parts about running an online business is having a great website design. You website design is what people online perceive about your business and this is why you need to invest in professional website design and development. You may have a cousin or a friend who is good at coding, but there is a lot more that goes into an ecommerce website development.
You need to chose the right color schemes for the brand, develop layouts that appeal to online audiences, add tools and features that maintain interest and even the payment gateway that online buyers use to purchase items from your site.
Payment Gateways
It is crucial to be able to accept payments from customers online if you want to maintain a consistent cash flow for your online business, especially if you do not have a physical location where customers can come to buy your products. Hooking in a payment gateway on your website makes it easy for customers to securely move funds to your account without needing to use third party websites. There is some complexity involved in order processing and this is why it is advisable to work with professionals. Your shopping cart software needs to be compatible with the payment gateway and you should mention the cards accepted.
Nothing is as great as having your own credit card processing software, if you want to make fast money transactions, and this lies within the payment gateways. Payment gateways offer a seamless payment process for online customers since data can be forwarded to the gateway through a secure SSL connection and the shopping cart.
Features of Payment Gateways
1. Security. The Electronic Fund Transfer Point of Sale Terminal (EFTPOS) is the process of checking the validity and encrypting transaction details when delivering the information to the shopping cart during online shopping. You need to choose a payment gateway that is PCI compliant and uses an SSL certificate. These standards describe how the website and browser securely processes sensitive transactions that involve customer details and credit card numbers.
2. Account overviews. Working with a payment gateway that gives you a general account overview can help you manage your online business better. When you know how many transactions have been made and how many are due via the automatic debiting procedure, it becomes easier to create a financial plan for your business. The information about the account statements and transactions are crucial for financial management.
Advantages of Using Online Payment Gateways
1. Payment gateways are the fastest and easiest ways of processing payments online. As a business owner, you have probably realized that it is much better to get your money now instead of later.
Customers paying for products online using checks are often impractical especially when the transaction involves smaller amounts. Checks have to be mailed and banked before you can receive the cash, which is very inconvenient. Manual credit card processing will require you to be by the phone all the time to receive and input customer credit card information, which is quite inconvenient as well.
The payment gateways mean customers can fill out the credit card information online and the payment is processed within a matter of minutes.
2. Payment gateways are also more secure than any other form of payment processing. There is no relay of private information over unsecured communication lines such as phone calls. With the security standards upheld by payment gateways, there is lower risk of security breaches or fraud.
3. There is no time constraint when it comes to making payments online using payment gateways. Even when there is a deadline or timeout for a product, your customers can pay up to the very last minute. You can realize maximum sales for your products even with a limited time offer because customers can buy day and night without any difficulties. This would be a huge problem if you process credit cards over the phone and do not have a dedicated 24-hour customer service office.
4. There is more transparency in the payment procedure when you use payment gateways. Customers will feel more in control when they independently approve the correct amounts to be deducted from the accounts. The payment procedure is usually pretty simple on the client side. All they have to do is enter the credit card information, confirm the details and approve the amount. Customers will have more confidence purchasing from your site after one successful purchase using an online payment gateway. This results in an increase in regular sales, especially from return customers.
5. With the kind of flexible online administration you get when using online payment gateways, you can greatly improve your sales strategies. You have access to improved forecasting of the amount of fees due with the access to account statements at all times. Having a general overview of your businesses finances is crucial to planning business strategies and achieving them.
6. Conversion rates rise when customers find a variety of payment options on your site. Accepting different types of credit and debit cards increases the number of impulse buys because of the high level of convenience it offers. Your payment gateway should offer at least four payment options if you want to appeal to as many customers as possible.
The Bottom Line
Setting up an online payment gateway does not have to be a costly procedure. There are many payment gateway options online for both small and large businesses. The best payment procedures do not have to put you through a whole process of checks before releasing funds into your accounts. As long as you have PCI compliance and SSL certificates, you can focus on growing your business without worrying about payment issues.
Jack Dawson is a web developer and UI/UX specialist at BigDropInc.com. He works at a design, branding and marketing firm, having founded the same firm nine years ago. He likes to share knowledge and points of view with other developers and consumers on platforms.
Photo Credit: Tatiana Popova/Shutterstock
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