What Small Businesses Need to Know About Accepting Online Payments

• Demand for ecommerce payment options continues to increase for all types of business
• Choosing the right payment system and merchant services provider helps ensure success
• Understanding what’s needed to start accepting secure online payments is critical

There’s no denying the importance of offering online payment options to customers these days. Consumer expectations in this regard have changed considerably. Fortunately, payment system technology continues to evolve and allow businesses to deliver a better customer experience and far greater convenience. For small businesses in particular, online payments can have a notable positive impact on sales volume and profitability.

In order to help accelerate growth, businesses always need to be on the lookout for opportunities to open up new revenue streams and reach additional customer segments. For small businesses and entrepreneurs, this may mean expanding the scope of their business from in-person sales and branching out with online ecommerce payment processing tools. Online sales present a significant opportunity to boost revenue, attract new customers, and increase customer retention. As a result, small businesses around the world are quickly realizing the full advantages of online payment processing.

Global Growth of Ecommerce Business

According to recent data from eMarketer, global ecommerce sales hit just over $5.5 trillion USD in 2022, and is projected to exceed $7 trillion USD by 2025. This rapid growth is occurring due to a combination of factors. First and foremost, advancements in payment processing technology have made it faster and more secure than ever to conduct transactions online. Digital wallet apps like Google Pay and Apple Pay have reduced friction in the online payment experience for customers and simplified the process of choosing from a variety of credit cards, debit cards, and personal bank accounts to complete transactions.

Secondly, consumer behaviour continues to shift towards online payments for an increasingly broad range of products and services. Traditional brick-and-mortar retailers have had to adapt their business models to accommodate these trends, offering online ordering, direct-to-home delivery, and hybrid click-and-collect options. Smaller businesses who have historically relied entirely on in-store shopping are now faced with consumers who have come to expect the convenience of online ordering and in-store pickup or direct delivery services. What used to be viewed as value-added services are now considered by customers to be standard options, the lack of which can have a negative impact on customer loyalty and new customer acquisition.

Advantages of Accepting Online Payments

Enabling online payments for your business has many advantages, including some that may not be immediately apparent at first glance.

• Greater Convenience – The biggest advantage online payments have is enhanced convenience. 24/7/365 availability of online payment platforms means customers can shop any time. Accessibility of online payment portals from mobile devices like smartphones and connected tablets allow customers to complete transactions from literally anywhere.
• Expand Beyond Local Areas – Online ordering allows businesses to expand their reach to global markets far beyond the local area. This helps your business open up new streams of revenue by attracting new customer groups who previously were unable to shop with you.
• Additional Marketing Opportunities – During the online checkout process customers can be presented with a variety of special offers and opportunities to sign up for programs like e-newsletters and loyalty rewards. The convenience and simplicity of signing up during checkout increases the conversion rates on marketing efforts such as these.
• Analytics & Insights – Online sales are inherently more data-rich than in-store transactions, and businesses can use this valuable data to major advantage. Personalization of featured products and special offers can have a significant impact on average cart size and lifetime customer value. In addition, online sales data can be leveraged to optimize the overall website experience and increase ecommerce conversion rates.

Clearly, the benefits that online payments can deliver for your business are quite substantial. Small business owners who are seeking growth opportunities should be looking to invest in a solution to offer their customers the added convenience and value that comes with an ecommerce payment system. Nevertheless, choosing the best type of online payment solution for your business can be a challenge, so having a clearer idea of what to look for in this regard will help make the process easier.

What to Look for in an Online Payment Processing Solution

 When deciding to move ahead with an online payment system, answering a series of simple questions can help to narrow the field of choices and make the decision easier. Before selecting any system, you must first determine the variety and types of payment methods that you wish to accept at your business. Keep in mind that while the majority of payments may initially be made using credit cards, growth of digital wallets is projected to accelerate. In light of this, it’s always best to opt for the greatest range of payment methods possible.

Furthermore, you’ll need to identify the level of functionality in the payment system that your business may need. For example, some businesses require a complete ecommerce website to sell multiple types of pre-configured products. Other types of businesses may be better served by a simpler payment portal for sales that follow dynamic or custom formulas, such as those associated with professional services or non-standardized products.

Let’s explore each of these types of payment solutions in a bit more detail.

Ecommerce Payment Systems & Integrations

For businesses with multiple products to offer customers through their website, a more comprehensive online payment solution will be needed. Depending on the necessary complexity, this can either be done by implementing a complete ecommerce website, or by integrating payment processing functionality into an existing website. In the case of online payment integrations, the ecommerce components can be customized to provide a seamless brand experience throughout the entire checkout flow.

MONEXgroup offers multiple types of ecommerce payment solutions for small businesses, including hosted checkout and non-hosted checkout options. Hosted checkouts are payment systems that are managed by an external third-party where customers are redirected to securely complete and verify their payment, and then returned back to the merchant site after the transaction is approved. Hosted checkouts offer greater simplicity in setup and reduce the liability of the merchant, but limit the amount of customization that can be done.

Non-hosted checkouts are solutions that are embedded directly into the merchant website, meaning that all transaction steps take place at the merchant level. Non-hosted checkouts are more complicated to set up and configure, and require more responsibility on the part of the merchant in terms of security and data protection. However, non-hosted checkouts enable a great deal more customization, and therefore may be a better choice for businesses who want complete control over the customer payment experience.

Virtual Terminal Payment Processing

For businesses who do not need a full-featured ecommerce website, and simply require an online payment portal to process transactions, a virtual terminal is an ideal solution. These web-based payment gateways are accessible from any smartphone browser, connected tablet, laptop or desktop. No matter where the customer may be located, a virtual terminal makes it fast, easy, and secure to accept payments online for all types of products and services.

Quite simply, virtual terminals function as digital representations of a physical POS payment terminal, allowing your business to accept credit card payments using secure encrypted processing technology. Virtual terminals are particularly suited to businesses such as seasonal contractors and professional service providers, subscription-based businesses like gyms and fitness centres, and companies who provide phone-in ordering to customers in remote locations.

Get Started with Powerful Online Payment Processing Solutions from MONEXgroup

If you are a small business owner who is on the verge of introducing online sales options to your customers, now is the time to get in touch with the team of payment processing experts here at MONEXgroup. We will provide your business with a dedicated customer success representative, a complete range of ecommerce payment processing solutions to choose from, and 24/7/365 technical service.

With MONEXgroup as your merchant services provider, your online payment system implementation will proceed smoothly from start to finish, and we will help configure your solution for optimum efficiency, top-tier security, and the best possible customer experience. Whatever products or services your business provides to its customers, you can be confident that an online payment processing system from MONEXgroup will help your business grow to new levels of profitability and customer satisfaction. There’s no better time than now to start reaching new customer segments and delivering added value to your loyal customers with the convenience of online payments.

Contact MONEXgroup today to learn more about the best online payment processing system for your business!