It wouldn’t be wrong to say that payment is one of the most crucial parts of the ecommerce sales process. Many ecommerce vendors have put great efforts into making it more seamless by reducing the steps required and introducing more options to encourage ecommerce sales and as a remedy to deal with many objections of the transaction process. Therefore, it’s essential that as an ecommerce business or someone who interact with ecommerce, we understand the different type of payment options offered to customers in the ecommerce industry. Understanding them better would help us enhance the customer's payment process by making the process more seamless and enabling them to pay using the method they prefer the most. Let’s look at some of the most popular ecommerce payment methods.
Cards
When talking about online payments cards are the most common method that comes to mind. In fact, the growth in popularity of ecommerce itself can be attributed to the use and spread of card usage. Without them, ecommerce transactions wouldn’t have been this easy, presenting much more friction during the transaction process and averting customers from buying online. Some of the reason that makes cards one of the most preferred methods for online payment is
It’s fast: payment with a card can be comparatively fast compared to other payment methods making the transaction process much more hassle-free and frictionless to bring a more seamless experience for the customer. Customers can make the payment is just a few clicks.
Accepted everywhere: One great benefit of cards is that they’re accepted almost everywhere; this gives customers the liberty and freedom to purchase products of their choice from anywhere they prefer.
Reward & Discounts: Everyone loves being rewarded and that’s one thing that attracts many people to use cards when shopping online. Many card provider provides discount and loyalty point to customers when they purchase using cards.
While there are numerous aspects that make the card a preferred choice for many shoppers, there is still the need for other payment methods. While cards are commonly used among people in the Western world, their adoption is less significant in the East. Also, despite offering great security features, some people are still reluctant to use their cards online. This provides a space and generates a need to have other paying methods which are discussed below.
Digital wallets
Another digital payment method is the digital wallets. Compared to cards these are more modern forms of digital payment and offer both the customer and seller a higher level of convenience during the transaction process.
They’re considered more safe compared to cards and thus offer lesser resistance when it comes to customers’ trust in the transaction process.
They can be connected to multiple payment sources allowing the customer to make payments from their desired source from a single platform.
The transaction process with digital wallets is faster compared to cards offering an even more seamless process than using cards during the checkout process.
Digital wallets offer peer-to-peer payment that can be useful when buying things from some independent person instead of a vendor, such as a used item online.
Digital wallets are completely virtual and are stored in digital devices such as mobile phones which makes them easier to carry and use.
Cash on delivery
A method that while not very popular in Western countries is widely accepted in the rest of the world is the cash-on-delivery method. This method as the name suggests includes paying when the items are delivered to the customers and is the result of collaboration of online vendors with their delivery partners, who collect payment upon delivery on their behalf. The culture from society to society varies and the level of trust that people have developed paying online is found at different levels among different cultures. The cash-on-delivery method is useful in developing trust among customers online shopping who are wary of paying online. However, it comes with its limitations.
It can only be delivered when the customer is present at their location to make the payment in person to the delivery person.
It added an extra responsibility to handle cash for the logistics partner.
The payment transfer is not instantaneous to the vendor.
Decrease the efficiency of the delivery process by adding an extra step.
Other ecommerce paying methods
While the above-mentioned paying methods are mostly dominant, there are some other payment methods that are offered by ecommerce vendors.
BNPL: The Buy-now-pay-later options allow the customer a flexible option to buy products and make the payment in installments. This not only benefits the customers but also enhances the sales for vendors by attracting more customers.
Gift Card: This allows the customer to purchase online items using their gift card credits. Facilitating gift cards on your ecommerce store can improve your sales by enabling people to gift their friends & family credits that they can use to buy items in your store.
Loyalty points: Similar to gift card credit you can provide loyalty points to customers on each purchase and have them redeem them on their future purchases.
Conclusion
Ecommerce is an extensive domain that encompasses different areas and fields, catering to different demands and people, and serving all around the world in different countries. Like anything else, the dynamics of ecommerce also vary from one society to the other and have given rise to a whole spectrum of different preferences when it comes to different aspects of ecommerce. Payment method is one such aspect and the inclusiveness of what payment methods are offered by a webstore should align with the preference and needs of the people it intends to serve in order to penetrate successfully into the respective market. Therefore the webstore management should give due consideration to what payment options are offered in their store such that they enable a seamless transaction process for their customers.
The x2xecommerce having years of experience in providing integration solutions offers integration solutions between POS, ERPs, and ecommerce platforms. The x2x team can set up a webstore for you and also integrate it with your existing business solution. An example of a solution by x2xecommerce includes. The x2x RMH-Woo integration solution. Reach out to the x2x team for a free demo or any query.
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