Owning a business today is not that easy anymore. The latest changes in terms of technology and the preferences of the customers impose adopting new ideas. Even though you might be reticent at first, creating your first business website is the first step towards reaching more clients. In today’s society, everyone is spending time on the Internet, on social media platforms or other influent websites. Promoting your company in these places could be impactful for its profitability. The more people you reach through your brand, the higher the chances of winning substantial amounts of money at the end of the month. Old-school business owners might avoid creating a business website especially because it involves knowledge in a field they don’t know so well. The good news is that you can slowly start learning more about tech and its implications in people’s lives and actually use it for your own good.
After finally creating a business website, the next step would be daring to sell your products or services through an online shop. People are much more limited by time, meaning that they no longer prefer going to a physical store and buying what they need. Placing an order online and receiving the products at home is much more convenient that losing time around town until you eventually find what you are looking for, this being the main reason why most people opt for online shopping nowadays. This should motivate business owners to implement an online shop on their websites and manage it right from the comfort of their homes. But, what about payments? What is the right method to pay? This article is going to thoroughly present the possible payment methods a business owner can include in his online shop. Here’s the list:
The most popular payment methods found on websites
Frist of all, you should get informed about what are the most popular methods for payment for online shops. Some people might prefer to pay via a credit/debit card while others may consider that a reimbursement payment method is much safer than others. The goal is to offer your visitors enough alternatives to please all their preferences and requirements. This is a list of the most used payment methods when it comes to online stores:
- Credit card
The first payment method you should consider refers to using a credit card. This is considered the first option when it comes to people paying for their orders online. What is great about paying with a credit card is that the transaction is made almost instantly, and the order is sent to you right away. It takes no longer than a few minutes to pay online via a credit card. Unfortunately, many people worry about scam websites that use credit card information to steal money from their accounts. This is the reason why you should consider a secure credit card payment method and make sure no replicas of your business website exist. Your whole online shop should be secured in order to use the credit card payment method. You should also mention in your terms and conditions that you respect your clients’ privacy and their information is safe on your website.
- Debit card
Not many people know the difference between a credit and a debit card. In the case of paying with a debit card, the cardholder owns a checking accounts. While using this type of payment method, clients can encounter a delay until funds are eventually withdrawn from their accounts. The benefit of paying with a debit card is that the buyer doesn’t have to pay any taxes. Yet the benefit doesn’t apply to the merchant, as he is not paying lower card acceptance costs.
- Bank transfer (Electronic Funds Transfer)
As a merchant, you have to invest in the services of a certain bank. Once you open a bank account exclusively for online store payments, clients can transfer the amount of money they own to you through their bank account. This payment method is called direct debit and has certain regulations and requirements that you need to know about before making it available on your online shop. It is advised to include such payment method if you don’t need fast money processing. Otherwise, opt for faster payment methods.
Alternative payment methods
These are a few payment methods that are less used, but just as effective as the traditional ones. You should include them in your online store to give your clients more flexibility in terms of payment.
- Paying via SMS
Paying via SMS is a great alternative for smaller amounts of money. In case you are offering services that do not require processing for large amounts of money, you can add this payment method to your online store successfully.
- Checks
Have you ever heard about CheckComposer? You can now receive payments via a check. Checks can be sent by phone, fax or web. The main advantage of accepting check payments is that you can include monthly check payments. If you offer a service with a subscription, it is much easier to pay via a check each month rather than making the payment separately each time. Plus, you’ll get a better grip on your clients’ database.
Paying through PayPal is a popular method that not every website includes. The reason why you should include it is that all of the money your customers pay are stored in an account and you can withdraw them whenever you wish to. PayPal payments are advantageous because of the short amount of time spent on processing transactions.
This is a method that became popular during the past few years. Most people own a smartphone these days, reason why Apple created the Apple Pay service. You can include such option on your website for fast transactions and security.
- Samsung Pay
The same goes for Samsung. Clients can conveniently pay for their orders right from the mobile payment service offered by Samsung. Some online shops and points of sale already included this payment option.
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