How To Choose The Best Payment Gateway For Your Ecommerce Site
As an eCommerce business, choosing the right payment gateway can make a huge difference in your profitability and overall success. On average across the globe, 70.42 per cent of people abandon their cart. That’s a lot of wasted opportunities!
You can dramatically reduce this by choosing the right payment gateway and improving your customer’s online shopping experience. In this blog we’re going to tell you what to look for and help you pick the right option for your business.
What is your business model?
This is the first thing to factor in, because it will change your needs. For example, do you ship physical items to your customers (e.g a clothing store), or do you sell online products? (E.g software, music or digital products).
Also, do you sell one-off items or do you have a subscription model? Or both? Knowing what you need is the first step to picking the right option. You’ll need to choose the right gateway that supports your needs, otherwise you’ll end up losing money to confused or frustrated customers.
How much are the fees?
This is a big one, and different gateways have different payment structures. Some have fixed fees, some have percentage-based fees, some have annual fees and so on.
The final cost for an eCommerce payment gateway varies depending on things like your business model (above), the types of payments you accept and how much money you receive.
The key thing here is to look beyond the surface of each payment gateway. Some gateways might promote “no monthly fees” but have a huge transaction fee, or other hidden miscellaneous fees (such as chargeback fees).
If this is the case, you may end up spending more than you would if you’d chosen a different gateway in the first place.
In addition to comparing transaction fees, pay special attention to international fees and fees for different payment options as well. This includes things like Amazon Pay or Apple Pay. E.g you might be in Australia but but using a US-based gateway you could get currency exchange fees (as well as USD pricing).
On average across the globe, 70.42 per cent of people abandon their cart. That’s a lot of wasted opportunities!
What integrations do you need?
It doesn’t matter what kind of payment gateway you choose. To be a good fit, it will need to integrate with the other tools and platforms you use to run your business.
For example, if you use PrestaShop to host your ecommerce business, you’ll need to find a payment gateway like PayChoice that works well with those platforms. Otherwise, you’ll run into issues like slow page loading and other types of glitches that interrupt the checkout process — and could cause your customers to abandon their cart altogether.
Smooth integration is essential if you want to avoid a lot of the headaches that can come with switching to a new payment gateway.
The better your gateway pairs with your other tools, the more likely you’ll be to stick with it long-term. You’ll also be more likely to provide your customers with a positive online shopping experience, which increases their chances of staying loyal to your business.
Give your customers options.
The more payment types your payment gateway can process, the better (so you don’t lose customers because you didn’t offer their preferred method).
This means you need to think beyond Visa and Mastercard. Look for platforms that work with other, less common payments like Apple Pay and PayPal.
Being able to accept multiple payment options allows you to accommodate more customers. This provides them with a good experience and increases the likelihood that they’ll continue shopping with you in the future.
Be sure to take note of the payment types that your customers use most often, too. That way, when shopping around for a new payment gateway, you won’t accidentally choose one that a significant portion of your audience can’t use.
How secure is the platform?
Security is everything. If it’s not secure, don’t even look at it, it’s not worth the risk!
This doesn’t just apply to you as a business, most customers want to make sure their data is safe when shopping online. If they don’t trust your website and payment gateway to process their credit card information securely, they’re going to take their business elsewhere.
Look for a payment gateway that uses the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (or PCI DSS) system. This is a series of standards that aim to protect data and payment information for customers all over the world.
Always verify that the company maintains PCI compliance so you can feel confident that you’re protecting your customers’ data. This also gives you peace of mind knowing you’ll be less likely to deal with a fraud issue or security breach — both of which are expensive and can damage your business’s reputation.
At PayChoice we have Tier 1 PCI DSS Security, which is the highest level of security currently available.
Your customers expect a high level of support from you, and you shouldn’t settle for less when you’re looking for a payment gateway provider.
What other features do they have?
Beyond the ability to process a variety of payment types, you may also need a payment gateway with some other features that provide your customers with a good experience.
For example, can it accept coupons and discount codes? Can it support upsells and cross-sells? Can it sync with your other tools so you don’t have to do any double handling? How fast is the payout period?
Consider your gateway’s reporting features, too. Does it provide you with details regarding monthly, quarterly, and annual sales? Will it help you keep track of revenue and important customer data?
How’s the customer support?
There’s nothing more annoying than having money issues and not being able to reach anyone (it’s even worse if your customers are cranky and you can’t fix their problem!)
Your customers expect a high level of support from you, and you shouldn’t settle for less when you’re looking for a payment gateway provider.
Pay attention to the different types of support that come with each payment gateway. Do you get access to phone support? How about support via chat or email?
Consider the availability of the support team, too. Are they available 24/7 or only during business hours? Are they located in your area so you don’t have to worry about figuring out timezone differences?
This is the biggest thing that makes PayChoice different. We are 100% Australian owned and operated, and all of our support staff are based in Australia. We reply to you in a matter of hours (not days) so you aren’t left stranded.
(Just look at the reviews and complaints from some of the big gateways… you’ll see what we mean!)
Here’s the best all-round eCommerce payment gateway.
Choosing the right payment gateway in Australia can be tricky. If you’re looking for a payment gateway that checks all the boxes mentioned above, PayChoice is the perfect solution.
Obviously we’re a little biased, but we also know for a fact that our product is better than the competition. We have the leading security, the lowest fees, the best customer support and the most flexibility. We even have custom API tools so we can make features to suit your needs.
Click here to learn more about this payment gateway and how it helps you handle ecommerce payments, sell more products, and expand your online business with ease!
You can chat with our team to answer all your questions and see how PayChoice can make your business more profitable, more streamlined and more successful.
Happy selling!