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Key Points to Know Before Integrating a Payment Gateway into Your Website

Category: Ecommerce

Key Points to Know Before Integrating a Payment Gateway into Your Website
Mohab Ecommerce 0

Key Points to Know Before Integrating a Payment Gateway into Your Website

More people are now shopping online and as an online business owner, you have to make a smart move to provide a seamless checkout process.  Many shoppers abandon their shopping carts just before completing the purchase if they encounter problems with the payment process. It is critical that you provide a seamless and convenient payment process by working with a reputed payment system provider.  You have to learn how to integrate a payment gateway into your e-store as this is a major step in improving user experience at your e-store. With the right payment network in place, your customers will enjoy quick and secure payments, which will in turn lead to higher sales conversion, reduced cart abandonment and increased customer loyalty.

There are multiple payment gateways in the market and choosing one may seem like an overwhelming task. To make the right decision, you should consider the following factors before integrating the payment system into your e-store. Read on.

  1. Processing Speed

If you want to tap into the fast-growing e-commerce industry, you have to provide the best customer experience through a quick and painless checkout process. The gateway you choose for processing your payments should be fast in order to provide a seamless user experience.

If your customers experience hiccups when making payments, they will most likely abandon their carts and move to your competitors.  To avoid this, evaluate the processing speed of the payment system; query the provider’s downtime and contingency plan.

  1. Security

One of the greatest concerns in online shopping revolves around safety in transactions. Many businesses and customers have suffered losses due to fraud and these go into billions every year.  When choosing a payment gateway, evaluate the security levels offered to protect your customers’ sensitive data. Failure to do this will lead to loss of customer trust, business losses, and hefty fines from the regulatory authorities among other devastation consequences. The provider should guarantee encryption of all transactions during payment transit and storage.

  1. Consider the Terms and Conditions (T&Cs)

Many business owners have suffered irreparable damage due to the purchase of services without reading the terms and conditions (T& Cs). When purchasing a gateway to process your online payments, you have to read every item in the terms and conditions list to avoid surprises along the way.

Pay careful attention to the small print because otherwise, it could lead to business losses in the future. Look for contract issues such as software integration fees, processing volume requirements, transaction fees, monthly fees, early termination fees, minimum fees, fraud software fees, etc. Ask for clarification before signing on the dotted line.

  1. Multiple Payment Options

There’s no compromise when it comes to accepting multiple payments at your e-store. The best payment network must support such needs as more customers now go for alternative payment options other than credit cards.

  1. PCI-DSS (Payment Card Industry-Data Security Standard) compliance

Another crucial factor to consider when shopping for payment gateways is PCI-DSS compliance. These standards guarantee the system is safe and secure. You will not have to worry about data breaches, data loss, and fraud among other online data handling problems. With the PCI-DSS compliance badge on your website, it is easy to win and retain customer loyalty which is the aim of every business owner.

  1. Flexibility

Every business has unique needs and when shopping for payment gateways, you have to identify a system that is compatible with your e-store needs.  Consider whether the system you choose is flexible enough to adapt to the specific needs of your business, adapt to the programming language of your site, and to process all global currencies you need for your business among other things. Look for a flexible payment processing platform which you can adapt to suit your business needs.

These are only a few of the crucial factors to consider before integrating a gateway for payments to your website. It is also important to consider technical support from the provider, ease of technical integration, reporting features, UI and usability, built-in invoicing capabilities, and fraud detection and other security features.

6 years ago
How to offer a seamless checkout while helping to prevent revenue loss
Mohab Ecommerce 0

How to offer a seamless checkout while helping to prevent revenue loss

As an e-commerce store owner, your main objective is to increase revenue in a highly competitive business environment. To do this, you have to deliver a seamless shopping experience devoid of any hiccups. On the surface, it looks like an easy feat to achieve but in reality, providing a seamless user experience is the most difficult thing an online store owner has to do. One area of focus when talking about user experience is the checkout process. While you would like to provide a seamless checkout process, there are security concerns and PCI compliance standards to worry about and finding a balance is not easy.

This article addresses how you can provide a seamless checkout process without exposing your business and the customers to security risks such as fraud. Keep reading.

The risks involved in e-commerce checkout process

Many online businesses have sunk under the weight of security lapses. While the internet has come as a godsend for sellers and consumers, the inherent security risks in data handling pose a big hurdle.  As an online business owner, you must appreciate the magnitude of responsibility on your hands once you start to take payments online.

It is a big convenience to both the customer and the retailer but there are risks of data loss, which can lead to fraud. While your initial concern is cart abandonment, you should not forget the consequences of lax security measures on your e-commerce store.

Stripping down their checkout to the bare essentials might seem like a good idea in providing a seamless checkout process but in doing so, you will expose both your business and the customers to fraud. Worse still, your brand can lose credibility in case of data breaches and it will take a lot of marketing to get back on your feet. In essence, you have to find a balance between providing a seamless checkout process and security checks.

In summary, your business risks losing revenue by relaxing the checkout process in the following ways:

  1. Fraud: Any business that loses customer data during checkout will have to refund the amounts lost. With the increasing cases of online fraud, you need to avoid chargeback claims at all costs because they can drain your revenue. You need to implement effective security systems without complicating the checkout process.
  2. Interchange costs: If you don’t provide billing address information, your business risks an interchange downgrade and associated increase in costs.
  3. Hard declines and soft declines: Hard declines are permanent while soft declines arise when the card-issuing bank can’t complete a transaction. Both types of declines lead to revenue loss and you need a payment solutions company that can advise you on how to minimize these.

Balancing seamless checkout and preventing revenue loss

The objective of your online business is to make money and to do this; you have to seal all avenues of revenue loss. If you are in the process of implementing a seamless payment system, you should also have revenue loss at the back of your mind. To find a balance, consider the following:

  1. Implement basic fraud tools: By working with your payment solutions provider, you should enable the best fraud tools subject to your security risk. Enabling these tools guarantees that you don’t expose your business and customers to fraud and at the same time, you provide a seamless shopping experience. Anti-fraud security such as AVS and CVV lower the risk of fraud.
  2. Request AVS and CVV authentication: To avoid soft declines, ask for AVS and CVV authentication for your U.S customers at least on the first transfer for each customer.
  3. Implement 3D secure system: For customers outside the U.S (Europe or in the Asia Pacific region), you should implement the 3D secure system to deal with soft declines. This system also helps solve the problem of chargebacks. This security system shifts chargeback liability to the card-issuing bank.

If you run an online store, you need to appreciate the importance of providing a seamless checkout process. It is the only way to reduce cart abandonment rates, grow revenue and build customer loyalty. However, there is also the risk of losing revenue through fraud, declines, and interchange costs. For this reason, you should find a balance between a seamless checkout and effective security during checkout. Go ahead and identify the best payment solutions provider to implement a seamless and secure checkout process.

6 years ago
Why is It Important to Be PCI Compliant?
Mohab Ecommerce 0

Why is It Important to Be PCI Compliant?

The e-commerce market continues to grow at an incredible pace across all industries.  More consumers now shop online, and online retail sales keep increasing every year. However, it is not all hunky dory in the online business landscape. One of the biggest concerns online businesses must grapple with is the increase in data breaches.  Now that payments happen online, there is a big risk of data loss without proper data protection mechanisms. The industry has adopted secure online payment systems, but there is still a need for regulation and close monitoring. This is where Payment Card Industry (PCI) standards come in to protect cardholder data. If you are an online business owner, there are various benefits of becoming PCI compliant.

This article examines the risks of insecure payment systems, PCI standards and the importance of PCI compliance. Keep reading.

PCI in Brief 

The advent of internet technology provided an ample opportunity for businesses to expand their reach. As more people went online, trendsetters in all industries moved their operations to this platform to tap into the new opportunities. The early online stores had to accept credit cards to offer a seamless online shopping experience, and this is where security problems started.

With no regulation on data security, data processing, and data storage, it was only a matter of time before credit card fraud started to hamper online shopping. At this point, providers of payment solutions came together to develop the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard or PCI DSS compliance standard.

PCI standards define data security requirements for businesses handling online payments. The bottom-line is to protect the online shopper by minimizing risk to cardholders’ data. Today, this is an industry regulatory requirement accepted worldwide. Businesses must undergo rigorous requirements, to become PCI compliant and it is an ongoing process.

Reasons for PCI Compliance

The process of PCI compliance is tough but when your company is compliant, there are multiple benefits you enjoy. These include:

  1. Reducing the Risk of a Data Breach

The last thing you want as an online business owner is for your customers to lose their data while transacting on your website. This can lead to devastating lawsuits, loss of brand trust and ultimate failure of your business.  Information flow online is fast and swift and within no time, your business will hemorrhage customers leading to a slump in sales. By complying with PCI standards, you can rest easy knowing your customers’ card data is safe and secure.

  1. Increase Brand Trust

The PCI badge on your website makes shoppers more comfortable to undertake transactions. It is a badge of honor for any business to attain and it takes a lot of investment in security standards on your website.  It is easy to build customer loyalty when you offer a secure shopping experience.

  1. Boost Sales Conversion and Revenues

When your customers feel secure shopping from your website, they will always come back. If there is no security breach on your e-commerce website, there is a higher chance of retaining existing customers while attracting new ones. All these factors boost sales conversion which in turn improves returns.

  1. Avoid Costly Fines

The issue of data fraud affects all businesses in the online ecosystem. If your business suffers a data breach, there is an immediate impact on all other businesses as customers will fear the same will happen elsewhere. For this reason, your business will suffer hefty fines from PCI in case of failure to comply with the standards. These hefty fines force businesses to observe best practices in data protection while at the same time implementing all guidelines provided by PCI.

  1. Build Your Company’s Image

Internet shoppers can always switch to another online store if they feel uneasy making payments on your website.  For this reason, you need to invest heavily in your image branding and one way of doing this is by becoming PCI compliant. Consumers now appreciate the importance of security when shopping online. If you have met the highest standards, they will comfortably shop from you and recommend you to their friends too.

When thinking about facilitating online payments on your e-commerce website, you should look for a payment solutions company that will boost your efforts to achieve PCI compliance. By becoming PCI compliant, you will easily sustain your business by averting fraud, increasing customer loyalty and building brand trust.

6 years ago
How mobile technology is shaping the e-commerce industry?
Mohab Ecommerce 0

How mobile technology is shaping the e-commerce industry?

In today’s world, both online retail and offline retail sales are crucial for retailers. Often, these two are closely intertwined, one driving another and vice-versa. But there is one phenomenon that is influencing both these retail methods – mobile technology. Here we will emphasize the influence of mobile technology in the e-commerce industry.

The statistics reveal that almost half of the global internet traffic, 52.4% in the third quarter of 2018, is generated from mobile devices. You can boost e-commerce sales if you implement m-commerce strategies or adopt mobile technology to drive e-commerce sales.

Check out the following mobile technology trends that can be fruitful for your e-commerce business.

The surge in smartphone and internet penetration

There were 1.57 billion smartphone users in 2014, and the number is expected to reach 2.87 billion by 2020. In addition to this, the internet penetration rate stood at 53% in 2018 as the number of internet users rose to 4.021 billion, a 7% year-on-year rise. These statistics depict the importance of smartphones usage. Therefore, it becomes obligatory for every business entity to establish its presence on mobile. This is applicable to e-commerce businesses as well.

Ask your developer to create a responsive website that adapts comfortably according to the screen size of the device. Moreover, you can also consider investing in a mobile shopping app, if budget allows. The ultimate aim is to streamline e-commerce business for mobile users. This will ensure that buyers can access your online retail store anytime and anywhere.

Mobile payments

With the evolution of mobile technology, secure payment online systems have been developed, exclusively meant for mobile phones. There are numerous payment options for users, such as credit or debit card payments, net banking, mobile wallets, UPI payments, EMI payments, and so on. The mobile wallets and UPI payments specifically target mobile users and enable them to complete a payment in a couple of steps. These are secure payment processors that ensure end-to-end encryption, preventing any chances of fraudulent activities.

Customer engagement

When you emphasize m-commerce, you get an opportunity to target a custom audience, showcasing customized content. Based on the preferences of the buyers, and their browsing history, you can deliver custom content and notifications. Similarly, you can easily determine the peak hours when mobile users are online. Send a push notification during this time period, as there is a high probability that a user will check it out.

Ensuring an interactive user interface is the key to boost mobile sales. For example, uploading high definition visuals like 360-degree photos, videos, etc. enchants onlookers. You can also opt for augmented reality wherein, users can actually analyze products in a real-world scenario.  Another way is to enable live chat feature on the app or mobile website. The users prefer conversing on a mobile phone as this is the most convenient mode of communication.

Social media integration

On an average, a user spends 116 minutes per day on social media, and 61% social media usage is on a smartphone. Since social media allow users to browse and shop products without leaving their social media account, you can harness this opportunity to drive e-commerce sales. For example, Facebook shop, Instagram shop, and Pinterest’s buyable pins are examples of social media commerce. After browsing products and services, users click on “Buy or Shop” icon, the link redirects them to the payment gateway page, resulting in the order confirmation.

Conclusion

This is the right moment for adopting and implementing mobile technology in your e-commerce business. If you delay it further, your competitors might gain an edge over you by driving sales via mobile purchases. Make yourself future ready by targeting the right audience with the right set of strategies.

6 years ago
How Digital Payments Can Ensure Online Business Success
Mohab Ecommerce 0

How Digital Payments Can Ensure Online Business Success

The modern business ecosystem today, is fast changing and as a business owner, you must adapt to survive these changes. One of the most phenomenal change, is the influence of the online market. If your business is not leveraging the growing internet market, you are missing out big time. Now, to survive in the highly competitive online market, you must provide a seamless shopping experience. One way of doing this is implementing a system which allows you to take payments online. A digital payment option helps unlock your business potential in various ways.

This article highlights how an efficient digital payment system, can ensure the success of your online business. Keep reading to know more.

  1. Providing a Fast and Convenient Payment Method

Online shoppers are infamous for their short attention span and their want for instant gratification. What this means, is that you must provide what they need, there and then. After a shopper adds items to their cart, the last thing you want is hitches in the payment process.

While most e-commerce websites promise easy payment, this does not reflect on the choice of payment options they offer. With digital payments, you can now provide a seamless shopping experience which in turn, leads to customer loyalty, fewer abandoned carts, increased sales conversion, and better ROI.

  1. Expanded Customer Base

Most e-commerce websites started out with only credit and debit card, as payment options. But things have now changed and if you do not adapt, you risk of being swept aside in this volatile market landscape. Digital payments allow more customers to complete the purchase journey on your online store.

You have an opportunity to expand your customer base which is the dream of every entrepreneur. By offering multiple payment options, you improve the shopping experience leading to increased sales, high ROI, customer loyalty, and brand recognition.

  1. Serve Various Geographical Markets

The best digital payment systems provide multi-site and multi-currency capabilities. It is now possible to target different geographical markets without the complexities of currency conversion. The idea of a global village has come to pass, and you should implement the best payment system to ensure you leverage this internationalization of commerce.

  1. Minimize or Eliminate Fraud

One of the greatest concerns in the online market ecosystem is safety when making payments. Shoppers must provide sensitive data, to complete payment and when such data falls in the wrong hands, many things can go wrong. This is where digital payments come in handy. The best payment gateway process entails performing card related encryption, authentication, and verification. Through such foolproof security measures, identity theft and fraud can be prevented.

If you have not integrated a digital payment system in your e-commerce store, you need to consider the risks for your business and your customers. Now that online shoppers appreciate the risk of online payments, they only use stores which guarantee the safest shopping experience. It is time to explore available payment gateways and purchase the best for your online store, to provide a safe and seamless shopping experience to the customer.

  1. Increase Profitability

One of the main objectives for every business owner, is to make a profit. In the e-commerce landscape, the stiff competition can reduce profitability and you must think outside the box to maintain the flow of the customers. This is where a digital payment solution comes in handy.

If you can accept multiple credit cards, mobile money, and other digital payment options, you will make customers happy which in turn leads to increased sales and profitability.  Potential customers will find it easy to complete orders which will, in turn, improve your brand’s reputation.

  1. Excellent Customer Satisfaction Levels

One of the major points of concern for online shoppers is the lack of a flexible payment option. It is a major reason many businesses rank poorly in terms of customer satisfaction levels. To overcome this challenge, you need to adopt digital payments.

It is an easy way of keeping your customers happy which leads to high customer ratings. Now that most shoppers look for business rating before making a purchase, you need to implement a seamless shopping experience by allowing flexible digital payments.

There is no gainsaying, the importance of an efficient payment gateway solution allows for seamless digital payments. It is an effective technique to keep your customers happy, increase your customer base, enhance safety security, cut the cost of accepting payments, and increase ROI.

6 years ago