Did you know that eCommerce now accounts for over $24 trillion in sales each year? And that’s just sales made online! So if you have a website, whether you sell products or services, you’re likely missing out on a lot of potential revenue if you don’t offer the ability for customers to make payments on your site.
What Is An eCommerce Website?
An eCommerce website empowers customers to make purchases online. From one-time purchases to ongoing billing, it streamlines the sales process.
There are two main types of payments you can accept on your eCommerce website:
Credit/Debit Card Payments – The most popular payment type for eCommerce websites is credit or debit card payments. Customers enter their card information on your website, and the payment gateway handles the transaction.
Alternative Payments – Alternative payments are payments other than a credit or debit card. Alternative payments can include payments made with a bank account or ACH, gift cards, PayPal, or even cryptocurrency.
Why Should You Offer Payment Options on Your Website?
There are a few significant reasons you should offer payment options on your website:
It’s Convenient for Customers – Customers want to make purchases without hassle. By providing a seamless checkout, you increase conversion rates and reduce the likelihood that they’ll get frustrated and abandon their purchase.
It Increases Sales – Offering payment options on your website increases sales. If there’s something at your site and someone wants to buy it, creating a frictionless environment to do business makes life better for everyone.
It Is Eco-Friendly – Depending on your business model, offering eCommerce is an eco-friendly option that makes life more convenient. For example, instead of wasting paper and postage with paper bills, you can streamline your entire billing program with a digital solution.
It’s Always On – Another notable advantage of offering online payment processing capabilities is your business is open 24/7. If you only accept payments in-person or by mail, the hours and times you can accept payments are limited to regular business hours and mail delivery.
Customers Can Pay How They Want – When you offer multiple payment options, customers can choose the best option when you provide multiple payment options. For example, some customers may prefer to use a credit card, while others prefer to pay with PayPal or even Bitcoin.
Other payment alternatives could include in-house financing or Buy Now Pay Later Options such as Afterpay or Affirm.
Open The Doors To A World Of Commerce
Establishing an eCommerce storefront opens up your doors to a whole new world of business! Among the leading eCommerce platforms is WooCommerce; it’s installed on over 3 million websites globally.
WooCommerce is a plugin for WordPress that enables you to turn your WordPress site into a fully functioning eCommerce store. Highly customizable, it offers a wide range of features, including the ability to sell digital downloads, physical products, or services.
Digital Downloads – This option is ideal for artists who sell digital products such as music, art, ebooks, or other digital products. Customers can pay directly at your site and immediately gain access to their digital purchase.
Physical Products – Bricks and Mortar stores can boost their bottom line by setting up an online store to sell their products. Customers can browse and purchase items conveniently without ever stepping foot in your store.
Services – If you offer repairs, healthcare, restoration, or other professional services, customers can book and pay for your services directly on your website. And setting up automated follow-ups, such as appointment reminders, streamlines your operations.
Another functionality that can come in handy is the capability to set up recurring payments or subscription services, which is perfect for membership sites, online courses, or other content that people need access to on an ongoing basis.
The Technical Details Matter!
As a conscientious business owner, it’s imperative to comply with Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS.) These are security standards created to protect customer credit card data.
To ensure PCI compliance, you’ll need to confirm your website uses an SSL certificate. An SSL, or Secure Sockets Layer, certificate encrypts data sent between your website and the customer’s browser.
TLS is another term used to describe the same process of encrypting data. It stands for Transport Layer Security. You may see TLS certificates referred to as SSL/TLS certificates, which means that WordPress website owners can use the certificate to encrypt data via either SSL or TLS.
TLS/SSL helps prevent sensitive data, including credit card information, from getting intercepted by unauthorized third parties.
According to statistics, over 80% of consumers rightfully say they would abandon a purchase if the site weren’t using SSL. So, it is vital for keeping your customers’ data safe, but it’s also crucial for boosting sales and conversion rates.
Website Speed Always Matters
Customers want fast-loading pages, so using a content delivery network (CDN) is good. A CDN stores your website’s static files, such as images and CSS files, on a network of servers worldwide.
When a customer visits your site, the CDN serves up the files from the server that’s closest to their location. As a result, utilizing a CDN improves your website’s load times, vital for customer satisfaction and improved search engine visibility.
Another nice touch is adding Accessibility controls for end-users to control their experience. Many website owners forget that not everyone is the same, and some people have difficulty reading small text or navigating sites with many links.
Are You Sold On Adding eCommerce? Interactive Palette Can Help!
Now that you understand all the advantages of adding eCommerce to your website, it’s time to take action and get started! If you need help setting up or have questions about which platform or payment gateway is right for your business, the experts at Interactive Palette are here to help.
We specialize in providing competitive web design and development services to businesses and entrepreneurs. We center on helping our valued clients grow their business online, and our team has the experience and expertise.
So, why wait any longer? Contact us today, and let’s get started!
