What Are The Most Important Considerations To Keep In Mind When Implementing A Payment System On Your eCommerce Site?

Online shopping has been steadily growing throughout the years, but due to Covid, the growth has significantly accelerated. It’s been a time of change and development, with most businesses being forced to shift online or improve their current eCommerce capabilities.

You know you need eCommerce payments if you are running an eCommerce store. It’s often the last thing most people think about as the focus tends to be on selecting the best platform set up for your eCommerce store.

However, keeping the need in mind when choosing an eCommerce platform for your business can save you time and money in the long run.

What is a payment gateway?

An online payment gateway is a secure application or connection that connects your eCommerce store and the bank. The bank will then process your customer’s card transactions, facilitating money from the customer's bank account to your merchant account.

Other than the standard payment gateway or plug-in that processes card payments, other payments solutions such as "buy now pay later" or accelerated checkout options are also available and can work alongside each other. It’s beneficial for your business because you can offer different payment options for your customer.

Factors to consider when choosing a payment gateway for your eCommerce store

1. Appropriate payment flow

As your business is growing, your payment gateway should grow as well. It’s essential to pick the right payment flow for your eCommerce store so that you can place a payment gateway for your website.

The primary payment gateways offer options such as;

An integrated payment form contains all the vital info forwarded to the gateway provider.

Redirect for payments – users are needed to enter their information on an embedded IFrame in the site or be directed to a secured hosted payment page on the site. Developers are advised to take this option because it uses less time to integrate.

Escrow payments- creating an escrow payment in your system gives your customers more trust in you. The platform withholds your funds until the proper authority releases them.

2. Security

Ensuring that any payment provider you work with is PCI DSS compliant is essential. Being compliant means they are held to the highest standards ensuring your business is protected from fraud.

The PCI DSS sets out requirements for any company that processes payments, stores information, transmits credit/debit card details must comply to maintain a secure business environment.

Having a secure payment gateway will help you identify any suspicious activities before the payment process proceeds any further. For example, if a shopper tries to pay for stuff from a credit card that was stolen or hacked. Other shoppers may also claim that they didn’t receive a product from your store.

While you may refund some of these issues, they will add up over time and cost you money. So having a payment processor that’s secure enough to detect fraudulent transactions is essential.

3. Accepted payment methods

Finding a payment provider that accepts different methods of payments that your customers use is critical. If you can’t process payments from certain providers, it can be a barrier to your business, and you may lose out on a percentage of sales.

You can also add other forms of payments like buy now pay later, which is increasingly becoming popular. Even though it sounds like an expensive option to provide, it may help you increase your customer base by implementing them. Note that the more options you add, the more you will need to manage.

4. Associated fees

Fees can be a bit confusing, and when maintaining or setting up your eCommerce store, different factors can affect your bottom line.

Adding to your fees accumulated in your eCommerce store, your payment provider will also charge you fees to process your payments. The different fees you may be charged include;

Merchant Service Fees - this is the rate or percentage of every sale charged by your provider.

Additional fee charger by the eCommerce platform – while it’s not common, some eCommerce platforms will charge an additional percentage fee or a flat fee for every transaction proceeding on their platform. Check if your platform charges for this because it can significantly increase the cost of processing orders.

Flat fee – there may be a flat fee charged in addition to the merchant service fees. It can be for every transaction or every transaction below a certain amount.

Third-party processing fees are the same as additional fees but differ in processing payments. They usually charge you an extra additional fee on top of your preferred payment provider fees. Such fees can limit your ability to obtain the most competitive payment processing rates as the volumes of your transactions increase. Some eCommerce platforms will penalize merchants for using third-party payment providers instead of their payment solution.

5. Settlement time

The time it takes to receive your money matters a lot because it can affect your business cash flow. Ensure you consider this when choosing a provider. Find a provider who processes payments a little faster so that payments reach your account in time and ensure the smooth running of your eCommerce store.

6. Surcharging

Surcharging options will depend on the provider you choose to work with. Some providers may force you to absorb the Merchant Service Fee, while others may give a choice to pass it on and place the surcharge yourself.

7. Customer support

Some payment providers don’t provide any form of customer support. In such cases, users must follow the manual instructions to try and fix any issue.

To avoid such, check before choosing a provider, check if they offer live technical support that's at least within working hours to ensure they solve any technical issues you may encounter.

At the end of the day, you are looking for a provider that you can reach at any time in case of anything. Although emails are okay to send for most issues, reaching a live person via phone makes a huge difference.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or management of EconoTimes