Get to know all the ways you can start accepting payments online and don’t let yourself be left out of all the possibilities you can get.
In the last two years, millions of wholesalers and retailers around the world have had to adapt to recent changes.
Some changes were accentuated even more with the pandemic, and the main repercussion is the boom in online sales. Sales increased in three months what was expected to take 10 years. Therefore, you must adapt your business to this reality, receive online payments, and reap the benefits.
A complete list of the best e-commerce payment platforms <<
Online payments, how do they work?
The first thing you should know is that this is a path that has already been paved for some time by the large global retailers.
These companies represented by the main chain stores and also by brands such as Amazon, eBay, and others have promoted the entire culture of e-commerce.
Online commerce is mainly based on accepting payments online, in small businesses and businesses in general. This led to the need to create payment software, as well as laws and regulations to protect the data provided by customers.
These systems are the payment gateways that adapt a business’s web environment to sell and charge their customers online. This is a process that allows, in turn, immediate connection with banks and credit and debit card issuers.
In this way, online payment consists of creating a specific shopping section within your business website. This process should allow the customer to complete the following steps:
Top ways small businesses and e-commerce sites are accepting online payments
The ways to receive electronic payments for customer purchases are based precisely on this. By this, we mean that the customer’s criteria sets the tone for how the payment process should be.
In this sense, customers mainly think about the security of their data, especially if it refers to their credit card or other online payment options.
This is why an e-commerce site must provide the customer with the best possible shopping experience in order to capture and retain said customer. The idea is that the customer first perceives the total security of the personal information that they are going to provide when making an online purchase.
On the other hand, the purchasing process must be friendly, accessible and clear enough in terms of calculating prices based on quantities and fees for taxes, shipping, card payments, and others.
In this sense, online stores can process their customers’ payments mainly in these two ways:
- Direct management of the customer’s credit or debit card data or other payment method. This requires that the e-commerce site have a business account and comply with specific regulations in accordance with their bank. The money is credited directly to the business account.
- Link to or online connection with a payment gateway to which both the business and the customer are subscribed. In this case, the business receives the money in its account on said platform, which it may then transfer to its business account.
The best gateways to receive online payments
Currently, there are many payment gateways that will allow your business to establish the best way to receive money online. Some of these are platforms that allow you to design an entire online shopping experience on your website and others are links to recognized intermediaries. Here are some of the most used in 2021:
PayRetailers
It allows the implementation of strategies for the effective reception and processing of payments with debit card, credit card and alternative methods.
It has global payment management and integration capacity to receive payments in 25 different currencies. Moreover, it provides direct assistance in implementing the best mix of payment options for the store’s benefit.
PayPal
This gateway is characterized by its payment acceptance mechanism between individuals from all over the world. This is articulated through agreements with companies such as Visa and MasterCard, which allow their members to pay money to their PayPal account from their credit cards.
Also, the way to send money or pay in electronic stores requires only an e-mail and a password. This means that customers have the ability to pay at any online store that accepts this gateway, without having to re-enter their credit card details.
Online payment integrations: how much does it cost and documentation
Authotize.Net
It is a service that was created many years ago, and that, in addition to being only in English, is widely used in countries such as the United Kingdom, India, China, Australia, the United States and Canada. The combined transactions of the 375,000 websites that use this payment operator exceed $88 million per year.
Stripe
It is a widely used platform and one of the ones that grew the most in 2020, adapting to companies of all sizes. Additionally, it allows you to create your own payment systems on your online store’s web pages. It also combines its great functionality for payments from mobile phones. with excellent features in terms of speed, integration and ease.
Braintree
It is among the most used platforms in more than 40 countries. It has also received very good references and a high percentage of satisfied customers, including technology companies such as Uber, Airbnb, GitHub and LivingSocial.
In this respect, Braintree also has fast integration and a dashboard that provides accurate information about the different payment processes.
Shopify
It is one of the most used and popular platforms when it comes to the speed of implementing your online store. There are over 500,000 companies worldwide that use its online collection processes.
This portal, specialized in the construction of e-commerce sites, brings together several functional tools such as performance analysis and recovery of abandoned carts due to incomplete sales and SEO management.
What is the cheapest way to accept payments online? A comparison
Establishing the best way to accept payments online is not really an easy task, especially if you are looking for the cheapest one. It is a decision that has more to do with the type of business and products or services and with the customer’s trust.
On the other hand, we have what is related to the costs that the business must face with banks and/or the different online gateways. In this way, the cost considerations based on the main payment methods for an online store are:
- Direct payment with credit, debit and other cards: in these cases, the business itself must pay the costs of opening, maintenance and specific fees related to the business account where said payments will be received.
- Bank Transfers: only the usual costs of the normal business account are paid, but it is already an impractical payment method for some businesses and clients.
- Payment gateways: this is the most widely used method in recent years and their rates vary from those that are configured from free WordPress plugins or another CMS, to platforms that charge for the overall design of the shopping experience, to fixed costs per maintenance plan and technical support.
Other costs are those associated with the fees that customers must pay for each transaction with a credit or debit card or intermediary gateways. Here are a few of the best companies to receive payments online:
- PayPal: customers who pay in an online store using their account of this intermediary must pay a transaction fee of 3.4% + €0.35 up to €2,500 and ranges up to 1.9% for sales over €100,000.
- Shopify: Fees for credit card purchases are 2.9% plus 30 cents per transaction on the “Basic Shopify” plan. The “Shopify” and “Advanced Shopify” plans apply 2.6% and 2.4% respectively, while keeping the 30 cents per transaction fixed.
- Braintree: handles a single fee or commission of 1.9% + €0.30 per transaction with European cards, and 2.9% + €0.30 with non-European cards.
- Stripe: fees are 1.4% + €0.25 for customer card payments within Europe and 2.9% + €0.25 for customer cards outside Europe.
- Authorize.net: rate of 2.9% + 30 cents and a monthly gateway of $25.00.
The best way to receive payments online
As mentioned above, choosing the ideal online payment method may not be an easy task. This is due to the many factors to consider, such as the speed and security of the process or also the technical support provided by the chosen payment gateway.
The customer must also be taken into account. Some e-commerce sites have chosen to offer a variety of options to receive online payments and increase their clientele. At PayRetailer, we are at your disposal to offer you all the necessary advice so that you can make use of the advantages of creating your online business.
A complete list of the best e-commerce payment platforms
