14 Key Features for Accepting Payments on Your Website
Online shopping is growing in popularity. Despite the rise in online shopping, many people are still concerned about the inconveniences of buying things online. Online merchants are still hesitant to ask for credit cards and other personal information.
An ecommerce site must offer a smooth, safe, secure, and reliable shopping experience. This begins with setting up your payment gateway.
How Do You Create a Payment Portal?
A payment gateway is an element of front-end technology that facilitates payment processing. It helps bridge the gap between your company’s financials and the customer’s during a transaction. Understanding how payment processing works is important to me.
One, the customer’s bank has to approve or deny purchase. Your merchant account and your payment service provider (PSP) will need this information to process the transaction and collect payment. All of these are coordinated by your payment gateway.
These are the steps you need to follow to set it up.
- Open a merchant account.
Merchant accounts allow you to accept credit card payments. Funds will be available in your merchant account once online orders are processed. The funds can be transferred to your bank account.
Before you create a payment gateway, it is a good idea if you have a merchant account. This account will be the destination for any funds that are generated from successful transactions.
- Choose a payment service provider (PSP).
The gateway is the front-end to payment processing for a transaction. The interface that customers interact directly with. The payment service provider facilitates the transaction back-end by passing financial information between all parties. To connect your payment gateway to it, first create a PSP.
- You can choose to build or or purchase your payment gateway.
Either you can build your own payment gateway (custom), or you can work with a provider in order to get one “outside of the box”.
Custom builds may be more suitable for your needs and can save you money on transaction costs. It can be costly to build and maintain.
Although it is simpler to set up a payment gateway, you should ensure that it has all the necessary features. Some may include PSP functionality. This will help you save time and speed up the process.
Stripe and Authorize.Net are the best gateway providers in this sector.
It is important that you have all necessary information to be able to accept payments on your website.
These are the Essential Features for Taking Payments on Your Website
- Multiple Login Options
While it might be more convenient for your sales team to ask customers to create an account in order to place orders it may not work out well for your customers. Customers might be turned off if they are not given the option to check out as guests. After they purchase from you, ask them to create an account. This will help them feel more connected to you.
You should also offer customers the option of logging in with one of their social media accounts, such as Facebook or Twitter. This will make it easier to register and speed up the login process. If possible, add that you will not post without the permission of the customer.
It is not possible to allow a social login. This is the only way that shoppers can log in to your website. You can log in to your site if anything changes, such as the terms and conditions of the social network changing or a deleted account. You should not allow social logins to be used to log into your site. Instead, look for other methods to contact them.
- Authentication/Login Layers
Customers who have an account should feel safe, even if they forget their login information. Multiple verification layers are required before you can restore the login information. It will provide them with some security. You may have to ask multiple security questions if a customer forgets her password before you can send an email to a predetermined address.
- PCI Compliance
The PCI Security Standards Council has developed a set Data Security Standards (DSS), which are applicable to all merchants, regardless of revenue or credit card transaction volumes.
PCI compliance is your responsibility if you own an ecommerce platform. The credit card and debit card transaction volume for the 12-month period determines this level. Most SaaS shopping carts include PCI compliance.
- Integrated Payment Processor
You may be able use payment processors like Stripe, Google Pay, and Amazon Pay if you have a small website that only handles a handful of transactions per month. It is best to integrate payment processing directly into your website.
Online shoppers may be redirected by processors to sites that look different from yours. This can cause them to lose touch with your brand and disrupt their experience. This can cause confusion and nerve-racking which can lead to abandoning your cart.
Integration of payment solutions that process customers’ data on your server allows for greater flexibility and customization. Customers will also find it a more pleasant experience.
An SSL certificate is required to ensure secure connections for integrated payment pages. Let me now move on to the next point…
- SSL Certificate
Every ecommerce website should have an SSL certificate to protect credit card information and personal data. SSL is the industry standard in security technology. SSL ensures that all data between a browser and a web server remains secure.
Hackers can steal customer information. Without it, online shoppers won’t feel safe submitting their information to your website. Online shoppers will be able to tell if your website’s security is assured if there is “https ://””” at the end. This is in addition “http ://”.”. “.
- Security Seals and Credit Card Logos
You might want to add security seals or credit card logos to your website in order for online shoppers to feel more at ease. This will make it easy for them to trust you and feel secure shopping at your site. These logos should appear on your checkout and shopping cart pages. These logos might be integrated into the footer of your website.
- Checkout Buttons
Customers will purchase faster if they don’t waste their time searching for the right option. Your checkout calls to action should be prominently displayed at the top of your website pages.
- Visual Checkout
Multiple pages can be used to distribute the checkout process. You can give shoppers an indication of where they are and how long it takes to get there. ModCloth is an excellent example.
- Return & Refund Policy
Online shoppers are not able to touch and feel the product. This can make it nerve-wracking. To reduce confusion, make sure to clearly describe your return and refund policy. This might be in the checkout process, or in the footer.
Your policy should be simple, clear, concise, informative, engaging, and easy to understand. It should be clear whether the customer will receive a return or an in-store credit. You should also specify the return deadline and the expected product condition.
- Clear Path to Contact Information
Online shoppers must be able reach you quickly for help, especially if they are new to the site. If they don’t have an easy way to contact you, they may not be able to buy from you.
Include contact information, such as phone number, email address and street address. Also include availability hours and social media accounts. Search engines will be able to find this information if they do local searches. Retailers also love the option of live chat. To build better marketing campaigns, make sure that you have integrated the information with customer records.
- Confirmation page Detail before you Checkout
Make sure that online shoppers are directed to a confirmation page before they can check out. Allow them to view their cart and allow them to add or remove items. Shipping and tax should be included in the final price.
- Optimized Checkout Page Design
The best checkout pages are easy to use, intuitive, functional, secure, and beautiful. It is not a good idea for someone with purchasing intent to abandon your system if they are unwilling or unable to use it.
- Mobile Payments
Buyers don’t just buy on desktop. Mobile buyers can also buy on desktop. Your payment gateway must be easy to use and reliable. If you have a mobile app, you may need to add functionality to accept payments on iOS and Android.
- Confirmation email
Also, you will need to create a confirmation email that includes the order number, product information and payment information as well as your return or refund policy. To ensure your customer service staff can answer any questions, use a “from” email address and not [email protected]. You should also print the order confirmation page. Your guest customers can sign up for an account by offering the option.
Although the process of setting up an online store can seem daunting, it’s quite fun. With a little planning, you can quickly process ecommerce transactions.
Balanced Processing Partners can help you choose the right payment processing system for your business. We have access to the most reliable payment processing partners and can offer you options based on your needs and budget. You can apply online or contact us at (800-354-6256). We are also available via email [email protected] where you can send us any questions or information of what you are looking for as well as your contact details so we can quickly contact you.