Keeping the high demand and popularity of online shopping culture in mind, eCommerce portals leave no stone unturned in providing the utmost customer satisfaction.
Using the best email marketing strategies, secure payment gateways, seamless transactions, and convenient doorstep delivery have become the need of the hour.
Statista Global Survey, 2020 shows that 27% of US consumers use online payment gateways. After all, gaining customer loyalty is directly linked with amplified sales & profit.
While shopping online, a customer's most essential concern is making a payment through a secure payment gateway.
For all those who are new to the world of online shopping, a payment gateway is a channel that allows a customer to transfer money from their bank account to the retailer after shopping online.
How Payment Gateways Help Your Online Store
Payment gateways support and accept electronic payments and enable the processing of credit and debit cards. Read on to learn the benefits.
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Faster & secure transactions
Payment gateways act as a mediator between buyer and seller. It helps manage a customer's confidential information, such as debit card number, CVV code, card expiry date of card & more. -
Saves time & provides a better user experience
A smooth transaction process eliminates the possibility of cart abandonment. It reduces the chances of buyer navigation toward the competitor's website.
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Payments are accepted worldwide
E-commerce store owners can take their business global by setting up a secure payment gateway. One can take payments from any corner of the world.
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Almost no declined transactions & automated payments
Less human intervention is something every eCommerce shop owner wants while operating an online business. -
Fraud detection tools
No more delayed payments, poor processing, or late deliveries are a few more long-term benefits of a payment gateway.
What’s the big deal about payment gateway security?
From a buyer’s perspective, a secure payment gateway is essential for the ideal flow of online payments.
Fraudsters can easily access the user's bank card details if the payment gateway is insecure. It will eventually damage the reputation of your online shopping website, and buyers will slowly start moving to the competitor’s portal.
Hence, it is imperative to use a secure payment gateway to keep the customer’s bank details confidential, protect against illegal threats & a lot more.
From a merchant’s point of view, using a secure payment gateway can protect them from expired cards, insufficient funds, exceeding card limits, etc.
From a restaurant owner’s perspective, a secure payment gateway for restaurant payroll software can protect the sensitive financial information of their employees, ensure accurate and timely salary payments, and safeguard against potential cyber threats or data breaches that could compromise payroll data.
During the entire payment gateway process, the service provider encrypts all the data & information.
There’s no need for buyers & merchants to worry about security issues after choosing the right payment gateway.
Implementing and Using a Secure Payment Gateway
Now that you know the importance of a secure payment process, it’s time to dive deeper into it. Have a look at the checklist:
1. Check with your web host first
Your web host or online software provider will assist you in implementing the payment gateway services quickly on your portal.
To start with, you need to check your website’s control panel and see if there are any existing payment gateway options.
2. Research payment gateway options and providers
You will find multiple payment gateway options on the internet, and you might get confused as well, but the most important thing is to find gateways supported by your shopping platform’s software.
Providing multiple options is one of the best ways to reduce cart abandonment. Your cart’s software support information should contain compatible payment gateways.
Choose the ones that are globally accepted for uninterrupted services. For example:
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Apple Pay
It is one of the most renowned payment gateways with a robust anti-fraud team. 65% of all US retail locations now accept it as a payment method, and merchants across the globe use it for its versatility.
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Stripe
Stripe is known for easy setup and customized solutions. It also boosts a simplified checkout process like one-click checkout.
If you run a subscription business, however, you might consider a Stripe Billing alternative such as Chargebee, which can manage secure payments as well as custom subscriptions.
Either way, reducing friction at checkout is vital to reducing cart abandonment and improving overall sales.
3. Payment gateways charge a one-time setup fee
You have to meet the conditions and required fees. Payment gateways will charge you a one-time setup fee, a monthly fee, and small charges for every transaction.
The best thing you can do is compare rates and find a service that meets your requirements the most.
4. Choose between the direct gateway and the external gateway
To give you the correct information, external gateways (redirect) send your shoppers to a different website to process the final payment.
While direct gateways process everything within your portal and keep customers on your site without any diversion.
If you decide to use the direct gateway, it will be more beneficial for your portal, as it is the best and most professional way of getting the transactions done by the user.
5. Easy integration of payment gateways
- Most online retailers use third-party software to create custom web shops. This amazing software handles the ordering page and transfers the payment information to the gateway.
- Payment methods can vary, but you must enter the gateway information for every method, including Visa, Mastercard, etc. Each gateway provider will disclose all necessary information for implementation.
- Gateway services will provide a test to ensure accuracy and security. It’ll allow you to perform multiple fake transactions, which will help you ensure that the payment process is working correctly. We recommend you test everything once before going live with your website.
- If you have one or more brick-and-mortar stores and are selling on eCommerce platforms, there are many things for you to do, especially integration. Seamless integration of payment gateways with your POS software allows your customers more payment options and better shopping experiences.
How Online Payments Work
- The buyer selects a desired product, adds it to the cart, and moves toward the checkout page.
- Once the user reaches the checkout page, they select a preferred payment option and fill in the required details.
- They make sure all details are accurate
- An approval message comes from the customer bank for the payment gateway
- If the merchant receives the approval message, they initiate the shipping process
- The customer’s bank settles the amount required to purchase the item.
- The process is completed once the merchant receives the full payment.
Payment Gateways Make Shopping Easy
Be it any online business, carrying out secure transactions is the first and foremost responsibility of an e-commerce store owner.
To ensure maximum conversion of your prospects, provide appropriate and multiple online payment modes.
If you want to integrate a secure payment gateway, you must find a reliable and experienced software development vendor with years of experience in this domain.
Once setup is complete, you can make shopping delightful for your customers, ensuring better sales and profit for your eCommerce store!
Ecommerce helpdesk software can help you resolve customer issues fast.
Author Bio:
Shweta is a growth marketing specialist working with 2xSaS. She creates content that converts website visitors into paying customers for SaaS companies.
In her free time, she likes driving around the city & hanging out with her friends. You can email Shweta at Shweta@2xsas.com
