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Until relatively recently, business owners thought that connecting different payment methods on the site was an unnecessary functionality, justified only for large businesses.
Businesses were in no hurry to connect online payment options, and customers did not trust payments on the site.
Now, however, a successful online business is not possible without automation of fees on the site. Businesses will not be competitive if they do not connect payment automation.
How you can accept payments on the site
Payment automation on the site is a hot topic not only for startups but also for long-time market players. The modern market can offer 3 options for connecting online payments to the site:
- The easiest and most straightforward is to pay by card through an acquirer bank. This option will never lose its relevance because everyone has bank cards. The method of payment by card must be connected to the site, but it is not worth limiting yourself to this option. To reach a larger audience it is worth connecting other payment options as well.
- Payment through an electronic payment system. This option will require a bit more action from the business owner because before connecting any particular electronic payment system, you should analyze the needs of your target audience and determine which payment systems are in demand by your users.
- Using a payment aggregator. This option allows you to accept payments by different methods, including cards, as well as payment systems, and cryptocurrency.
The latter option gives maximum possibilities to online business, requiring minimum actions from its owner. You will not have to spend time on concluding contracts with each payment system.
However, the scheme of crediting funds is slightly different: the money from the buyer is first credited to the account of the intermediary and only then to the seller’s details.
Why do I need payment automation
Today’s consumers have many opportunities and strive for maximum comfort. The ability to make purchases without leaving home is one of those opportunities.
The more comfortable and convenient the payment process is, the more likely it is that an occasional customer will become your regular customer.
If you don’t give them the opportunity to pay for everything at once right on the site, your client will go to a competitor.
Payment automation allows you to increase your reach while providing the most comfortable online shopping experience for your target audience.
Businesses, in turn, receive revenue growth by increasing audience loyalty and attracting additional groups of customers.
Why is payment on the site considered automated? It’s quite simple: the client doesn’t need an employee of the company to make the payment.
The transaction can be done independently because the process is simple and understandable even for a child.
Advantages of automated payment
Online business is always an increased risk. Enabling the online payment option on the website is, first and foremost, a risk reduction for the business.
You get 100% prepayment for a product or service from the client. You can be sure that the client won’t get lost in the payment process just because he chose the offline payment option and didn’t reach the terminal as a result.
By connecting payment to the site, businesses can reduce logistics costs and avoid freezing personal working capital.
However, that’s not all there is to consider. Marketers often say that online shopping is a place for impulse, spontaneous purchases.
That is why it is important for the client to be able to make the payment before the “mood” has worn off or the impact of advertising has weakened.
The share of such purchases is high, but this scheme only works if the client can complete the purchase without leaving the site.
Otherwise, he’ll have time to think and may change his mind.
Advantages of payment automation
In addition, the advantages of payment automation can include:
- The possibility of choice for buyers. Not everyone wants to pay by card, waste time looking for a terminal, or overpay for an order with cash on delivery. Give freedom of choice to your customers, and they will come back to you again and again;
- Automating processes is always good for business because it gives staff time to focus on more important tasks. Employees won’t have to deal with invoices or transactions. Everything will happen automatically;
- The possibility of controlling the availability of goods on the site. The better the control, the less likely it is that you will have to return the payment to the client. For this purpose, you need to integrate the payment tool into the site’s CRM;
- Creating a favorable environment for business growth and development. The more opportunities site visitors have and the fewer restrictions they encounter when placing an order, the higher the chances that they will stay with you and become regular customers.
The cost of connecting automated payment
The process of integrating a payment service into a website is in most cases completely free of charge.
This step allows you to set up your business for mutually beneficial long-term cooperation with the aggregator.
However, using the system will require a financial investment. In most cases, the amount depends on the specific service. The most common option is to pay a fee for each transaction.
The terms of cooperation may vary: some offer a flat fee for any transaction, but there are variants in which the fee will differ depending on the payment method the customer has chosen.
The commission usually does not exceed 5%. Moreover, the higher the amount and the greater the number of transactions, the lower the commission payable will be.
How do you connect the automated payment to the site
At the first stage, the business chooses the right tool to solve its problems.
At this stage, it is important to evaluate not only the size of the commission and the functionality of the service, but also:
• The presence of restrictions on access to funds. Not all services are ready to provide access to funds in 24/7 mode with the right to withdraw funds at any time;
• The presence of additional functions. It would be nice if the service will offer you in addition to the standard functions the possibility of withdrawal of funds in different ways, currency exchange within the account, the delegation of functions, etc.;
• Compliance with security requirements. A prerequisite is the compliance of the selected service with the international PCI DSS standard.
Process of payment acceptance
If we talk about the process of payment acceptance, it can be divided into three stages:
- Register for the service and create an account. In order for you to be approved for an account, you need to provide data not only about the site but also about the business as a whole.
- Next, the system is integrated into the site. At this stage, the tool for accepting payments is added to the site. The site owner himself can cope with this task.
- Setting up and full operation of the service. It’s important to create an individual page for payments, which won’t differ much in design from the site. Setting up payment options, transaction reporting, and notifications will greatly simplify working with the service in the future.
You can perform integration not only through API but also through the module for the CMS site.
In the first case, you will need the help of a programmer, while with the second option even a person who is not familiar with programming can cope with it.
How risky is it to automate payment processes
Automation saves a lot of time in processing payments. However, at the same time, other issues arise: regarding the security of the transactions.
How is the problem of payment risks solved
Any payment system has two main tasks:
• Protecting your business from fraudsters;
• Exclusion of variants of rejection of reliable payments.
By solving these problems, the service increases site conversion and business revenue, protecting it from unwanted situations.
Security is ensured by using fraud-monitoring. This is a rather expensive solution that allows you to check all payments for possible fraud.
In addition, the system monitors and analyzes potentially risky transactions. Almost every payment system has an antifraud system because the success of the service depends on its availability and quality.
It is quite expensive to build your own antifraud system, but the use of bank fraud monitoring is fraught with the risk of rejection even of obviously reliable transactions.
It is important that the aggregator not only offers you antifraud monitoring but also allows you to customize the system to the specifics of your business.
Control of online payments
Any payment aggregator or payment system is able to provide businesses with the necessary tools to monitor each transaction.
However, the effectiveness of the tools can vary significantly. Pay special attention to the usability of transaction tracking tools, clarify the possibility of customizing them to your requirements.
In general, general information will be available to you without revealing the personal data of payers. Once you have the necessary data, you can generate reports according to your criteria.
This is important if you don’t want to miss transactions, or if you want to conduct a comparative analysis of online payments with other forms of payment.
What’s the bottom line
Payment automation for modern businesses is no longer a fad, but a necessity.
If you want to increase efficiency, attract an additional audience to your site, increase the loyalty of your target audience –allow consumers to buy without barriers.
Your customers will get what they want, and you’ll have time for more important tasks.
