Two of the biggest reasons behind ecommerce coming into the mainstream are technological advancements and options available on the payment front. While e-commerce’s portion of the total share of the U.S. retail market is still relatively slim, nearly all of the growth in the retail sector now occurs in online sales. As consumers are getting more user friendly payment options along with a secure architecture, it is resulting in an easy adoption of ecommerce.
Consider this, if you are running an ecommerce marketplace, but do not offer easy to use and secure payment options, how would your consumers buy from your marketplace?
Here’s the good news: Consumers are getting accustomed to online payments
In the last couple of years, the number of online shoppers has risen by almost 20 million. One of the reasons behind such a huge acceptance is the shopping experience being offered. And all these online shoppers are spending an exorbitant amount on ecommerce websites. The total amount spent online grew from $61 billion to $68 billion last year. What is more interesting is the fact that number of online transaction has increased by 115 million during that time. This means that consumers are using online payments as a mode of making transactions.
Types of payment options that you can offer
Traditionally, there are few payments options that are imperative for an ecommerce marketplace. These include:
Credit/Debit Cards – Card payments is one of the most popular modes of payment for consumers. Globally, almost 42% of consumers do online transaction via credit cards, while that of debit card stands at 28%. Adding these two takes the figure to 70%. This makes it crucial for your ecommerce marketplace to include credit/debit cards as a payment option.
One benefit of incorporating this payment option is that consumers can easily save the payment details (card details), making it easy for them to make repeat purchases without requiring them to enter their details manually.
Bank Transfer – This payment option is one the most widely used mode of payment with one-fifth of the consumers doing transactions via bank transfer. There are several countries where penetration of credit cards is not optimal, and thus, making bank transfers the only option.
Electronic Payments – Ever since ecommerce has come to the forefront, several electronic payment options have become popular. This includes digital payments like PayPal that allows you to do wire transfers. Over 39% of online consumers prefer electronic payments. Many technology evangelists claim that in a few years, electronic payments will overtake card payments to become the most popular mode of transaction.
It is crucial to note that every geographical region has their own electronic payment provider that customers prefer. Therefore, it becomes important to provide option that is popular among the consumers.
Mobile payments – Nowadays a new wave of payments architecture is coming up in the form of Android Pay and Apple Pay. These payment methods are prominent on smartphones platform as they offer an integrated way to make automated payments. Around 14% of the global consumers prefer to make online payments using this method. Additionally, messaging platforms like Facebook messenger, WhatsApp, line etc. are also moving into mobile payments arena. Integrated payments options are hugely popular in China.
COD (cash on delivery) – A lot of consumers, especially in the developing nations, still prefer to use cash-on-delivery option. Another aspect to this payment option includes the security in the minds of the people who still prefer to physically feel the product before making the purchase. Almost 23% of online consumers still use cash-on-delivery as their preferred mode of payment. Although this mode of payment is on the decline, still it offers immense convenience to the consumers. This is what makes it an essential payment option on your ecommerce marketplace.
Gift Card/Vouchers – Ecommerce marketplaces are now offering an option to consumers where they can purchase gift vouchers, allowing them to present it to someone else. Almost 15% of the global consumer use this payment service which shopping online.
Cryptocurrency – Nowadays a new wave of online payments methods have come to the forefront in the form of cryptocurrency. Its usage has been on the rise and the best part about it is that it is totally anonymous, offering the much needed privacy to the consumers. Several ecommerce marketplaces are now incorporating the option to make payments via cryptocurrency like Bitcoin.
Suggested Read – Top 10 purchase drivers of online shoppers
In 2015, the total number of non-cash payments in U.S. alone is estimated to exceed 144 billion, with a transaction value of almost $178 trillion. Globally, non-cash payment methods are on the rise for online shopping. By offering all these payment features you can easily enhance the consumer experience.
Other than payment options, ecommerce marketplace owners must also focus on payment gateways.
Are you looking to add multiple payment options into your ecommerce marketplace
Payment gateways- Payment gateways allow you to carry out your electronic transactions securely. The information shared across a payment gateway is encrypted to keep your financial and personal information safe from malicious elements on the internet. There are several popular payment gateways like:
- Authorize.net
- PayPal
- Pay U Money
- CCAvenue
- Omise
- Citrus
- Khipu
- Paytm
- RazorPay
- Amazon
- Stripe
- 2checkout
As per your convenience and trust in the service provider, you can add one of the above mentioned payment gateways in your ecommerce marketplace.
Bonus Options
There are some additional payment options that not only enhance the consumer experience but also create a better marketplace – seller relationship. Let us take a closer look:
- PayPal Adaptive System – It is a revolutionary payment system that handles one-to-many payments easily. It enables both admin and vendors to split the order total with secondary receivers, such as affiliates or partners. This removes the hassle where the admin has to individually divide the payments received from the buyer and send it to the vendor.
- Multi-Currency Support – As most ecommerce marketplaces work on the global scale, it becomes essential for them to have multi-currency support. This makes it easy for consumers to deduce the final rate without the need for conversion. Also some banking institutions impose a currency conversion fee, which is not user friendly.
Conclusion
The fact of the matter is that ecommerce has become a behemoth in the current market dynamics. Online payments are rising and in order to make your online marketplace highly consumer friendly, you need to incorporate best practices when it comes to digital payments. YoKart is one readymade ecommerce solution that has all of the above payment options making it a powerful and complete package. All you need to do is simple check the payment features YoKart offers.
