Having an integrated payment gateway on their e-Commerce store is one of the first things a seller needs to do if they want to sell goods and services online.It is also important for accepting online payments across digital payment options from consumers across the world. The online world mostly works on digital payment platforms rather than cheques with the exception of cash on delivery. Unless sellers integrate a payment platform, they likely won’t see their sales figures increase as online customers appreciate faster checkout using credit/debit cards, UPI, digital wallets, etc.
Moreover, there are numerous benefits that a payment gateway can offer business owners that can not only help them grow their business much faster but also create a good reputation with their customers by extending special offers and deals along with a lightning-fast checkout experience.
In this article, we will look at 10 of the foremost benefits that payment platforms offer to buyers and sellers alike!
Lightning-Fast Transactions
In a fast-paced world, nobody likes waiting anymore, especially when a customer is trying to shop online. The reason people prefer shopping online is that it offers them an incredibly fast shopping experience. They do not need to step out to get even basic items like groceries, medicines, etc., it can all be delivered right at their doorsteps within minutes. Payment platforms offer a lightning-fast checkout experience so that customers can order items and get them delivered within minutes without the hassle of having to handle physical currency.
Safe and Secure Transactions
Payment gateways offer an extremely safe and secure experience to both sellers and buyers . All transaction-related information including the sensitive financial information of consumers is end-to-end encrypted so that only authorized parties can view the information being shared. This makes it highly unlikely that fraudsters can access that information for illegal activities.
Accept Multiple Types of Digital Payments
From credit/debit cards, UPI, and digital wallets to even prepaid cards; online payment platforms are able to accept a variety of digital payment options that have gained huge popularity over the years due to the ease of use that they offer over cash transactions. Moreover, the government has been pushing for a digital economy where people are being encouraged to use as little cash as possible.
Reduces Overhead Costs
For small business owners, it’s often not possible for them to hire additional staff to handle the inflow of cash. Moreover, storing and moving all that cash requires additional spending on logistics. This increases the overhead costs as they need to spend more for paying salaries, and for securely moving cash. This is not an issue when they have a payments platform integrated as money is directly credited to their respective bank accounts helping them save a significant amount.
Selling Subscription-Based Services
For people in the business of selling subscription-based services, it’s next to impossible to run the business in the absence of a robust payment gateway. Expecting their subscribers to pay in cash for digital content or products that are sold online every month isn’t feasible nor practical. With a payment gateway integrated into the system, all recurring billing is automated and customers don’t have to return every time to renew their subscription. Once the payment information has been filled and verified, the system takes care of the rest and automatically deducts money at a set date until the customer cancels the subscription. This lets the business owner focus on acquiring more customers rather than figuring out a way to ensure that collections are made on time.
Tracking Finances
The best payment gateways come with a centralized dashboard with all the details of incoming and outgoing transactions. This helps keep a track of finances much better than a manual system which is prone to human error. This is also a more efficient way of calculating taxes as the system already has that figured out for you.
Build Customized Checkout Pages
It’s all about building a brand these days, and the most important aspect of that is,of course, branding. By allowing sellers to customize the checkout page with their business logo, fonts, colors, etc., business owners can give customers a customized checkout experience resulting in more brand recall for the business.
Offer Customized Deals and Offers
Since digital money leaves a trail, every financial transaction can be traced back to that individual client who made that payment. This helps business owners in targeted marketing for regular customers who shop frequently from the online store. Offering customized deals and offers encourages regular customers to buy those products that they might have added to their wish list but which they didn’t purchase. Moreover, even EMI schemes can be offered to encourage the same set of customers to buy higher-value items. This results in better customer retention, as they are more likely to interact with a store that frequently sends out notifications about their favorite products going on sale or available in easy monthly payments.
Sell Internationally
Having an integrated payment gateway allows online sellers to go global with their products. No one can expect a customer sitting in a different part of the world to pay via cheque or cash for an online product that they have purchased from a foreign e-Commerce site. With a payments platform that’s able to accept multiple currencies across the globe, business owners can expand beyond their home country and open up their business to a wider audience resulting in higher sales and revenue for the store.
Enhanced Fraud Detection
Last but not the least, great payment platforms offer incredible fraud detection that helps business owners fight the menace of chargebacks which is one of the biggest challenges that a business faces. Payment gateway integration systems offer built-in fraud detection tools along with PCI-DSS compliance and encryption to deal with potential issues that an online business may face in their day-to-day operations.
As you may have guessed by now, having an integrated payment gateway is crucial for the success of any online business, as they help deliver better and secure experiences to both business owners and customers alike. So, if you are into the business of selling online, it’s time to embrace the new!
Krishna Murthy is the senior publisher at Trickyfinance. Krishna Murthy was one of the brilliant students during his college days. He completed his education in MBA (Master of Business Administration), and he is currently managing the all workload for sharing the best banking information over the internet. The main purpose of starting Tricky Finance is to provide all the precious information related to businesses and the banks to his readers.
