For any business hoping to build an online storefront, online payments are absolutely essential for growth.
If you are one of these business owners on the forefront of the new digital age, firstly, let us congratulate you! E-commerce is the direction a large part of business is headed.
It isn’t hard to understand why, really. Look at how far we’ve come. The only thing in the last 30 years which comes close to E-commerce as far as convenience is concerned is the order-by-phone section of paperback catalogs like the Sears catalog and others.
And anyone who remembers this method or actually employed it themselves to order items from these and other such catalogs could tell you how far from convenient it actually was compared to E-commerce.
Not many methods of shopping can replace the convenience of simply touching and swiping items into an online virtual shopping cart, entering a credit card number, and hitting a “buy now” button.
No need to load up the kids (which is challenging enough on its own), no need to travel to the mall, no crowds, no sorting through endless racks, and no waiting in line.
You are always at the front of the line when it comes to E-commerce. The only “wading” you have to do is accomplished by a simple tap or swipe of your finger.
It really is hard to argue that the ability to sit on your couch, watch your favorite show, enjoy the warmth of your fireplace, and shop for new drapes or a new pair of Nikes — or any other item your heart so desires — isn’t the ultimate in shopping convenience.
For you as an online business owner, in order to accommodate your customers and their increasing desire for this convenience you need the proper tools to accept online payments.
Your customers would soon lose any interest in shopping online if all it consisted of was perusing through many items, clicking on them to add them to a “shopping cart” and then reviewing them as only a “wish list” in their virtual cart.
This would be like showing a 5 year old pictures of all the toys they have been bugging you about in vivid color and saying to them, “Are these the toys you want?? You can have these toys! No, not right now. You’ll have to wait until we go to the store this weekend. FIVE days from today!”
Talk about a full-on meltdown. For anyone who has children, you know all too well (and are probably experiencing a small bout of panic thinking about it right now) what follows this hypothetical scenario.
Setting up your online storefront will inevitably require you to set up your business to accept online payments.
This can be accomplished by setting up a merchant account through your bank or chosen ISO/MSP or by setting up an account with an online payment processor like PayPal or Square.
Online payments can be more than just credit card payments. Customers also have the option with certain retailers and companies to also pay by debit, gift card, loyalty card, or by check online.
Pretty much any system which allows you to accept credit card payments also allows you to accept debit, gift card, and in some cases loyalty cards.
Not every system is designed to accept checks online, however. Although these payments systems are available, they aren’t as commonplace because most people prefer to use credit/debit cards when paying for goods online.
But there are still a lot of people who prefer to pay by check. It may sound complicated and time consuming, but there are some companies out there who have made it an especially user-friendly process.
Accepting E-checks is definitely easier than you might think. Some online payment systems actually reproduce a “virtual” check the customer fills in the blanks the same as an actual check and submits in a similar fashion to credit and debit card payments.
If you are hoping to provide your customers the convenience of being able to use every possible form of payment online, the option for an online system to support all of them is most certainly available for your business.
There are plenty of services out there to accommodate you in this respect.
While you’re shopping different services, give RedFynn Technologies a look. Not only do we have a price-match guarantee, but we will also assign a dedicated account representative to your account.
We guarantee you will never see a rate increase for the life of your account, unless there happens to be an interchange increase by the credit card companies.
And there’s so much more, too… Pretty much anything which grows your business, we help you with. Not just the ability to accept online payments, but advanced data tracking and analytics, inventory control, fraud protection, a free loyalty program and customized gift cards. Just to name a few…
Give us a call at (888) 510-9871 with any questions about anything business related. We’re here to help and one of the ways we do this is by giving you solutions!
