Online businesses thrive because there are no restricted geographical limits and operating hours; it is up to them to decide about these factors. Stores can maximize acquiring orders from anywhere and at any given time. If you’re in the retail sector, you may want to consider joining the e-commerce industry and expanding your market reach.
But before strategizing your virtual selling platforms and sites, one essential thing you should carefully set up is your payment gateway. With many payment solution companies in the market today, selecting the most reliable and suitable one for your business is crucial.
So, to help you with that, here are some considerations to make when choosing an online payment solution for your growing business:
1. Diverse Payment Methods
One of the most important things to consider when selecting the best payment gateway for your business is to go for a company that offers diverse payment methods. Since your online business sells to a broad market that includes people from all over the world, it would be best to provide more payment options. The key is to observe and know what payment methods are most used and preferred by your target customers.
Whether your business is B2C or B2B, it helps to accept payments such as a virtual card for business, credit cards from different companies, and even local financial companies. You can increase your market and convert more revenues with diverse payment solutions. The payment gateway must accommodate the preferences of your consumers in specific areas, too, especially if you’re also targeting locally. Most payment gateways accept card payments or bank transfers as payment methods.
2. Convenient To Join And Process
As a business owner, you want to work with a payment solution company that comes with a straightforward partnership process. It would help to sign up and register as a merchant easily and quickly. Such an advantage gives you more leverage to start your business operations virtually.
In contrast, if you opt for a company with a lengthy signup procedure, you may lose customers as you can’t process their payments online yet. It will likely make them switch to other stores or your competitors. It’s best to inquire from your service provider regarding the registration and the requirements needed so you can register your business as soon as possible.
Go for a company with expedited procedures, from receiving documents and assessment to approval and set up. It’s best if they utilize advanced tools and software for onboarding merchants. Otherwise, the business may be unable to commence payment operations for an extended period if all the aforementioned requirements were fulfilled manually.
3. Consistent Customer Support
A reliable service provider should have a good customer support team. Make sure that the payment software provider you choose has dedicated support that can respond to your requests anytime. After all, glitches and hurdles can happen at any time. As your customers transact payments in different time zones, support must be ready to help and mediate errors.
Some companies may offer customer support, but it usually comes with a limited operating time. Therefore, it’s imperative to learn more about their customer service before dealing with the provider. Working with a payment solution company that constantly has your back when transactions fail and problems arise is preferable. Issues that can’t be fixed timely can surely make you lose your clients. So, ensure your payment service provider comes with a customer support team or contact person you can approach anytime.
4. Reasonable Transaction Cost
The cost of a payment gateway is the most crucial factor to consider during the selection process since it will also reflect on your balance sheets. Whether you incur the expense or add it to your selling price, it will affect your monthly earnings. So, check with the payment gateway provider and see how much their fees are and whether they charge per month or transaction.
You may consider the volume and value of your transactions when looking for the most cost-effective choice for your business. It’s best to inquire around and compare rates from different providers. You’ll come to realize that they usually have a range to follow. Check which of these rates is the most workable for you, as hefty transaction fees can accumulate into large amounts at the end of the month. It could take up more profits that should be yours in the first place.
5. Safety And Security
Another crucial consideration for choosing a payment gateway is its safety and security. Frauds and cybercrimes have frequently been recurring recently, and no eCommerce site is exempted from such risks and threats. Hence, an automated payment provider should have tight security systems and encryption to make online transactions inaccessible to cybercriminals.
Prioritize the security of your payment gateway when receiving payments online because you will be storing sensitive financial information. Aside from payment details, your customers will fill out their personal information, such as contact number and shipping address, which you should treat with utmost care.
Leaking such data will endanger the safety of your customers, and you’ll likely lose their trust and, eventually, your business. There are different levels of security associated with various payment gateways. Nevertheless, they should have tight online protection to keep their customers safe.
6. Mobile-Friendly
Most people are always on their feet, even when they’re working. In recent times, people have loved accessing internet information on their smartphones. Most customers also like shopping and transacting payments through phones than through computers and laptops. Therefore, choosing a gateway that supports mobile payments is essential.
7. Easy To Use
Your company and customers can benefit from a user-friendly online payment solution. With this, your staff who process orders can check and monitor payments conveniently and effortlessly. Your business can simplify payments so that the next step to fulfilling orders can be reached immediately.
Customers need a smooth payment flow during checkout to have a great shopping experience. They’ll likely visit your site back compared to your competitors if you have an easy-to-use online payment solution. Customer experience will be significantly enhanced when the payment portal is easy to navigate and use for your individual or business clients.
8. Can Be Integrated With Other Systems
Lastly, you need to consider if the payment portal can be integrated with your other systems, such as your sales dashboard or accounting software. Such ease of integration can make work more straightforward, and two tasks can be integrated into one, saving more time and effort for your staff.
Once your client makes an online payment, the relevant invoice will be automatically updated. The total sales for the day can be recorded automatically into another system, so you can get rid of performing manual tasks.
Conclusion
Your payment gateway can make or break your e-commerce business’s success. It is why choosing the right online payment solution requires taking into account a variety of factors. It’s essential to select one before you can launch your startup business. By keeping in mind the above list, you can choose the best service provider for your operations.