Generally a lot of businesses only stick to one type of payment method. Sometimes they only accept offers done by credit card, other times, they only accept PayPal. Regardless of what type of business it may be, chances are if the business incorporates only one method for their customers to pay, they are most likely missing out on opportunities to making them a lot more money. The most biggest mistake I see a lot of merchants make on the web, is this one in particular no matter how small the case may be: sticking to only one payment method.
Sure, trying out other payment methods may have different fees and terms of conditions, however, if you cannot provide the basic principle of letting your customers even be able to make a transaction, most likely, you are missing out in a lot of opportunities. In other words, you are missing out on sales.
Nowadays, I see a lot of small business owners panic about small fees and how incorporating other methods of payment would be too much of a hassle. If it is too much of a hassle, you shouldn’t even consider even starting your own business. The main principle of business is allowing customers to purchase and make secure transactions. If you cannot even provide that common principle of exchanging money, it is guaranteed that revenue is to be lost. And the most funniest part of it all, is that a lot of small business owners question themselves why customers are not buying. The answer is because they have not yet set up an enjoyable customer/buyer experience where the customer has options to take part in making business.
The bottom line is, if you cannot even provide the basic fundamentals of having a platform where exchanges can be made easily, it is no surprise you are losing customers.
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I’ll list a few of the most commonly used payment methods I see nowadays.
- PayPal – The most commonly used and referred to when making online transactions. You may even set up a merchant account if it meets your standards here.
- Authorize – Allows business owners to accept funds from customers who have credit cards like American Express, VISA, MasterCard, and more securely.
- MoneyBookers – What makes MoneyBookers so unique and the most commonly referred to as the cheapest solution to Paypal is because it sets out flat rates except for uploading funds. You can read more about MoneyBooker’s fees here.
- Google Checkout – Knowing that Google is a legitimate company, you simply cannot rule out Google Checkout. It is now becoming a widely accepted way to receive funds. Also, another cool thing is that sometimes they offer discount deals whenever purchasing with Google Checkout that you can view here.
- AlertPay – Although AlertPay may be a bit pricey when it comes to common usages like receiving funds and sending funds with the Personal Pro Account or the Business Account, what makes AlertPay one of the cheaper solution despite of the high fees for these certain accounts is that for the simple shopper who does not necessarily need a credit card (with a basic personal account), everything is free. You can read about their fees here.
- TrialPay – TrialPay is a rather newer solution which entices customers to buy in a new easily adaptable system that has never been presented before. Read how TrialPay works and how it can increase your overall conversions just by incorporating TrialPay. It is one of the clever ways to make customers happy and supposedly, buy (once you read how TrialPay works, you will know what I am talking about).
These are all radical ways to entice customers to buy, whichever solution they would like to choose. Although some of the platforms we suggest don’t contain as big of a user database as other money solutions like PayPal, most likely there will come a time when you are faced with a customer who only has, lets say MoneyBookers as their solution to pay for your product. That is where incorporating these payment methods before transactions come in handy. It saves you time and money.
It is always better to have some of the profit, than to be ignorant and not allow other alternatives to customers just because of some different fees. Business is all about creating an enjoyable buyer experience, and the worst thing that can happen to a buyer is finding out that the product/service they want to buy, they cannot because the business owner didn’t supply a payment method that works for them. Have you ever had one of those moments? I think we all had before when purchasing something online.
More than ever do businesses need to incorporate, not one, but a variety of payment methods for customers to benefit from. Because not only will it make the customer feel more secure and more likely to buy with a payment method they are familiar with, it suggests to customers that the business owners actually do mean business. And knowing how online transactions works, making purchases online requires some sort of money solution like Paypal or MoneyBookers if you don’t have a credit card because you cannot pay straight up in cash. Hence the reason why it is important especially for online businesses, to incorporate as many payment methods as possible to meet their customers’ needs.
