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The e-commerce sector has experienced a global boom in the last few years, in large part due to the meteoric rise of digital technology around the world. And with online shopping more popular than ever, startups and small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) frequently struggle to distinguish themselves from their copious competition. If you’re an online business owner trying to make your mark in a sea of options, you might think to beef up your product quality and marketing. But it’s also worthwhile to invest time and effort in improving your checkout process.
Checkout represents the final touchpoint with your customer, and it's your last chance to leave a positive impression that translates into a successful sale. Offering multiple payment options thus does more than make the shopping experience more convenient for consumers. It also offers your business a strategic advantage you definitely don’t want to pass up. After all, today’s customers are used to having choices in every aspect of their lives, and limiting their payment options can thus be a business faux pas.
Fortunately, there’s now a plethora of internet payment solutions that businesses of any size can leverage in order to expand their offered payment options. Because many such solutions can be set up for free, online payment processing has never been easier. With our very own Maya Checkout payment gateway, for example, it is now easy to offer the best online payment processing experience to your customers—and to reap the benefits of doing so.
This article aims to delve into the numerous advantages of embracing multiple payment methods for your online store.
1) It Reduces Cart Abandonment
If you've ever been on the merchant's side of an e-commerce platform, you'll know that cart abandonment is a frustratingly common phenomenon. A customer may find your products appealing, spend time exploring your catalog, and even add items to their cart, but then—nothing. They vanish without making a purchase.
One reason for this behavior could be a lack of convenient payment options. Customers who don’t have credit cards, for example, are likely to be turned off if they discover your store only accepts card payments. In such cases, they’ll probably simply abandon their purchases and look for an alternative store that accommodates their preferred payment method.
The point here is clear: limiting payment options can and often will deter customers from completing a purchase. By offering a range of different payment methods—digital wallets, bank transfers, virtual payment cards, or even cash-on-delivery—you are more likely to engage customers through to the final click and prevent them from abandoning their carts..
2) It Boosts Conversions
The concept of “conversion” in e-commerce refers to transforming a casual browser on your site into a paying customer. Every business aims to have a high conversion rate, as this directly correlates with higher sales and revenue. One often underestimated tool to achieve this is offering multiple payment methods, as this enables you to cater to diverse customer preferences, thereby attracting a more varied customer base.
Whether your customers prefer to pay through online payment platforms or the more traditional cash-on-delivery method, having options will likely convince more people to make more purchases instead of simply browsing your catalog. Making the payment process as smooth and flexible as possible means that you’ll be greasing the wheels of the conversion machine, encouraging more sales and contributing to the long-term success of your business.
3) It Provides a More Satisfactory User Experience
These days, offering the best products in your niche doesn’t necessarily guarantee a successful business. Customer experience is just as important for driving sales and encouraging customer loyalty for businesses in any industry—and this is especially true for e-commerce. If your website is difficult to navigate or limits how customers can pay, they might end up inclined to take their business elsewhere. On the other hand, offering multiple payment options communicates that you value customers’ convenience and want them to have the easiest possible shopping experience.
To elevate your customer experience further, go beyond offering variety and match your offered payment methods to your customers’ preferences. For instance, your target market might consist of younger shoppers who favor online payment solutions like e-wallets or digital bank transfers. Making these options available would tailor the user experiences more to their preferences and, by extension, make them more likely to enjoy their shopping journey. The aim here is to make your online store the center of an enjoyable shopping experience that customers will remember and return to.
To further illustrate, customers that frequent popular e-commerce platforms like Shopify or WooCommerce will definitely prefer to shop at stores that employ an integrated online payments gateway. Your own store can do just that with Maya Checkout, which comes with dedicated plugins for both of the aforementioned platforms.
Setting up these plugins is a simple and user-friendly process that doesn’t require specialized skills, so you can have the solution up and running in minutes. And with choice features like 24/7 fraud protection, a quick and easy checkout process, and a wide range of accepted payment options, it’s no wonder Maya Checkout has become the third party payment gateway Shopify and WooCommerce users in the Philippines turn to.
4) It Helps Customers Feel More Secure
While it’s difficult to argue with the convenience online shopping offers, its increasing ubiquity has also given users good reason to care more than ever about digital security. Phishing scams, data breaches, and fraudulent activities are very real threats your customers can encounter, and many will feel more secure if they see that your store offers payment methods they deem safe and trustworthy.
Different customers will naturally have different ideas about what payment options feel safest when shopping online. Some people might prefer using an online payment processing service that has built-in security features, while others favor credit cards that offer fraud protection. Still, others might opt for payment options that don't require them to share any financial information online at all, like cash-on-delivery.
By providing these varied options, you’re sending a message that you value your customers' security and peace of mind. And when customers feel secure, they're more likely to complete a purchase and even become repeat buyers. Trust is a valuable commodity in e-commerce, and having multiple payment options helps you earn that trust by accommodating the varying security comfort levels of your customer base.
5) It Facilitates International Transactions
The internet has made the world a smaller place, opening up markets and customer bases that were once difficult to reach. If you’re a small business with ambitions to go global, embracing multiple payment methods can be a game-changer, as it means that you can cater to specific payment preferences of customers from different countries.
Having a diversified portfolio of payment options thus makes your online store more accessible to a global audience. It also assures your international customers that your store is more than capable of getting their chosen method of online payment processed securely. And the more international customers you can accommodate, the more you can expand your business horizon.
Let Maya Business Help Boost Your Sales to New Heights
Whether you’re new to the world of e-commerce or looking to take your venture to the next level, Maya Business can be a helpful partner on your journey. We offer a wide range of digital solutions that will enable you to expand the range of payment options your store offers, thereby elevating your operations and capturing your customers’ loyalty for the long term. All you need to do is create a Maya Business Manager account to start taking advantage of top-of-the-line tools such as Maya Checkout, Maya Plugins, and many more.
Once you’ve set up your Maya Business Manager account, you’ll definitely want to sign up for the Maya 1-2-3 Grow bundle. This one-of-a-kind offer nets you multiple perks for your business, such as an immediate 1% merchant discount rate (MDR) on all QR Ph transactions for the first three months following your initial onboarding. You’ll also enjoy a generous 2.5% per annum interest rate on your Maya Business Deposit account should you choose to set it as your settlement account.
Lastly, signing up for the Maya 1-2-3 Grow bundle entitles you to a Maya Flexi Loan offer within just 3 months of signing—a potential gateway into up to PHP 2 million in additional funding for your business. With Maya Business, you’ll have advantageous promos and top-notch payment solutions at your fingertips, so be sure to set yours up today!
