The Best Payment Tool for Online Stores

In today’s highly competitive online business environment, having an online store is about the goods and services you sell, your online business’s security, your customer service, and whether your business provides a secure and streamlined shopping experience for your customers. 

One important, yet often overlooked, element determining the success of your online business is what payment tools does your business have?

As such, selecting the right payment method(s) for your online business enterprise can simplify the overall payment process and foster your customers’ trust because of the ease of payment, and the variety of payment options your business offers them. 

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Why the Right Payment Tools Matter

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To be successful in today’s cutthroat online business landscape, it is important that you ensure that your business has a reliable payment system.

A system that is both  user-friendly and makes your customer feel secure during every transaction. In turn, this assurance helps your business have greater operational efficiency.  

However, if your payment tools do not support a variety of current and trending payment methods, this can alienate your customers, and create unnecessary obstacles for them that could unfortunately, and unnecessarily, deter both potential sales potential customers.

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5 Criteria for Ideal Payment Tools for Online Stores

1. Security

Any good payment tool must have strong security systems. 

For example, if your business uses payment tools that offer certifications such as PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard)  and encryption technology, it ensures that your customer’s personal data is protected and that every transaction is secure. 

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2. Ease of Integration

Your business’s payment tools must easily integrate with the e-commerce platform being used by your business.

This is because, as an online store owner, it is important to ensure that your selection of payment tools is user-friendly and does not require complicated technical procedures to get connected either to the Internet or to a website. 

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3. Flexibility of Payment Methods

You and your business must ensure that the payment tools your online business selects support a variety of traditional, and emerging, payment methods, such as bank transfers, credit and/ or debit cards, e-wallets, QR Codes, and COD (Cash on Delivery). 

This payment provision is important because your business must have payment flexibility to be able to accommodate the diverse range of payment options available to your customer, and as such, cater to their selected (payment) preferences.

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5. Affordable Transaction Fees

Each traditional, and trending, payment tool has its own respective fee structure.

As such, your business must select payment methods that offer affordable and competitive transaction fees to avoid unnecessary fees that affect your business’s base profit margins. 

ALSO READ: 6 Simple Steps to Viewing Your Business’s Sales Reports Using Youtap’s POS Report Application

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Popular Types of Payment Tools

In today’s highly digitized, globalized economy, there are several types of payment tools available for online stores.

Each payment tool needs careful consideration, as each payment method has its advantages and disadvantages. 

The following highlights the five most popular payment methods used today:  

1. Payment Gateway

A payment gateway is a tool that enables online transactions to be conducted using various payment methods. This payment gateway allows online stores to accept payments directly from bank transfers, credit and debit cards, and e-wallets.

The following are some examples of popular payment gateways used in Indonesia:

• Midtrans is a suitable payment solution for large online stores because it supports a variety of payment methods; 
• Xendit is an ideal payment tool for growing businesses as it offers an ease of integration; and  
• Doku is a suitable payment solution because it offers competitive transaction fees for businesses that accept local and international payments.   

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2. E-Wallet

E-wallets offer transactional convenience and speed, ithat are deal features for online stores that target the local Indonesian population. In Indonesia, people are embracing e-wallets such as DANA, GoPay, and OVO. 

• Advantages are that e-wallets are fast and user-friendly, and do not require a physical card; while their  
• Disadvantages are that e-wallets are limited to those customers who have a (positive) balance stored in their e-wallet. 

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3. Bank Transfer

Bank transfers continue to be a popular choice because they do not require advanced technology, and can be done by anyone with a bank account. However, payment confirmation often needs to be processed manually with their:

• Advantages being that bank transfers are accepted by all customers - therefore having a wider reach than other payment options, while their  
• Disadvantages are that bank transfers have a slower processing time when compared to their emerging challenges, such as credit cards, e-wallets, or QR codes. 

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4. Credit/Debit Cards

Internationally, credit and debit cards are the most available, commonly used, and recognized payment methods for online transactions. The cards have:

• Advantages of being are suitable for online stores with a globalized marketplace, and the .  
• Disadvantages that unfortunately, these cards have higher transaction fees when compared to more trending payment methods.  

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5. COD (Cash on Delivery)

Cash-on-Delivery (COD) continues to be a popular choice for those customers who remain digitally obtuse when conducting business, whereas cash payment is an automatic, tangible, and widely accepted and recognized traditional transaction.

COD has the:

• Advantages that Cash-on-Delivery (COD) builds trust for those customers who are unfamiliar with online payment methods, whereas the  
• Disadvantages of COD risks both businesses and customers becoming susceptible to becoming a victim of crime, as well as being rejected upon delivery.  

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How to Choose the Best Payment Tools Suited to Your Online Store

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After you understand the variety of available, and trending payment methods, in today’s economic environment, the following points highlight some suggestions to help you select the best payment methods that are best suited to your business:

A. Know Your Target Market

It is imperative that your business know your target market. 

For example, if the majority of your customers use e-wallets, ensure that the payment tools you select support your choice.

Conversely, if your business has an international focus, a payment gateway that has credit options and multi-currency support is a better choice for business.   

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B. Consider Transaction Fees

In today’s business world, each payment provider has different transaction fees.

As such, it is important that you check and compare their fee structure before making your final decision. This check and comparison ensures that your profit margins are not eroded by avoidable and excessive fees.   

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C. Check Reputation and Security

Just as in any other organization, it is important to select payment methods that have both a good reputation and security certifications.

This is because in today’s highly digitalized environment, the risk of data breaches and cyberattacks can have significant negative impacts on both your business and your customer. 

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D. Ease of Integration

Your business must opt for payment methods that can be easily integrated into your e-commerce platform. 

For example, today’s payment providers typically offer application programming interfaces (APIs) or plugins that allow for hassle-free and speedy integration. 

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In conclusion, selecting the best, and most suited payment method for your online business is of critical importance.

This is because the payment method must be able to facilitate effective, practical, and streamlined transaction methods.

Furthermore, having the right payment features can enhance customer trust , as well as providing a better shopping experience for your customers.

As such, ensure that your chosen payment tools meet all of your business needs and that you consider their affordable transaction fees, ease of integration, and security.  

Are YOU ready to enhance your online store and your customers' shopping experience?  

If your answer is YES, start by investing in Youtap’s POS Digital Cashier system for accurate payments that make every transaction easier, faster, and more secure for not only your business but, more importantly, for your customers.

This is because they are the ones that either remain engaged or very quickly become disengaged from you and your business. 

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