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How to Integrate a Payment Gateway into E-Commerce Website

Category: Guest Posts

How to Integrate a Payment Gateway into E-Commerce Website
Mohab Ecommerce, Guest Posts 0

How to Integrate a Payment Gateway into E-Commerce Website

The “From Home” concept is pretty much in vogue. Whether it’s work from home or shop from home, the world seems to be happy and completely set with such a routine. I mean is there anybody around who doesn’t love or who seems to be tired of online shopping? Nobody, I guess and why not! Since it’s a fast, fanatic, cool, convenient concept and above all, quite secure and a big time-saver.

Introduction

In today’s times, it is quite a safe bet to say that eCommerce websites seem to have become quite a massive aspect of our day-to-day lives. Okay, tell me in the current week how many items have you ordered online? Be it accessories or apparel, home decor, groceries and whatnot! No wonder, eCommerce stores such as Amazon, Flipkart, and eBay, keep on brewing up and becoming multimillion-dollar ventures.

There is no denying the fact that online retailing is gaining popularity slowly and steadily and is here to stay for the long haul. So do not make the mistake of ignoring such profit-spinning realms. In today’s times, developing your very own eCommerce website can be pretty beneficial since you no longer need to own a physical store and things can be well taken care of from a small space, let’s say your living room as well.

Furthermore, are you keeping tabs on your competitors? If not, you must see how they have developed a strong online presence and raised their bar. Well, there are several other benefits offered by conducting an eCommerce development project. Just make sure you choose a reputable eCommerce development company that carries immense expertise and has a proven track record of developing successful eCommerce websites.

  • Low operating costs – Of course, conducting an ecommerce website project can be way more cost-effective than establishing a full-fledged physical store where you need to look around for different spaces to rent and create a relevant-looking infrastructure, basically investing a hefty amount even before commencing the business. Whereas when you plan to open an eCommerce store, you no longer need a separate physical space, also you can offer round-the-clock services if you want, and the investment is pretty less in comparison to opening an entire physical store.
  • Increased customer reach – The next benefit of considering an eCommerce store is great customer reach. Yes, local stores tend to attract a few customers, especially the ones hailing from your area. Whereas when you have an eCommerce website, you may come across customers from different countries or regions at the same time since they are using their laptops and smart devices to shop. Gone are the days when the traditional form of marketing was in vogue, now it’s all about offering seamless services online and creating a large customer base which can act as word of mouth and ensure more and more customers to your website. All you need to do is target:
    • Millennials and Gen X
    • All Geographics
    • Seniors, baby boomers
  • High-end flexibility – The next amazing advantage of conducting an eCommerce development project is that it ensures high-end flexibility and scalability. You see, it’s not like physical stores where you need a set of people ranging from a cashier to a security guard, receptionist, salesman and so on to run them smoothly. Not to mention physical stores tend to have more monthly maintenance costs whereas that’s not the case with an eCommerce store. Moreover, you can even think about managing several eCommerce stores even if you are using one single platform.

So if you want to go global, offer round-the-clock services to your valued customers, establish and strengthen your brand seamlessly, offer easy and more convenient services, and create better marketing opportunities then without a shadow of a doubt choose eCommerce development. Moving on, further, we will discuss what is the next step to take after you have decided to conduct an eCommerce web development project. Well, for starters you can think of choosing or hiring a reliable ecommerce development company that carries immense expertise and experience in conducting such projects for their clients.

Now can you tell me why not all eCommerce projects or eCommerce websites tend to succeed even if they are fast, convenient and pretty much in vogue? Well, this is only because of one factor which cannot be ignored at any rate. I am talking about none other than transaction security. In the end, your customers will be happy if they end up checking out in the most possible smooth and seamless manner. So what is more important here, incorporating an easy-to-use and highly secured payment gateway.

Introducing Payment Gateways

How to Integrate a Payment Gateway into E-Commerce Website

A payment gateway is something through which you can make your e-store seamlessly connected with the bank. And not just that, you can perform several tasks such as:

  • Checking if you have enough balance to buy the product
  • Conducting authorized payment procedures and sending the money safely to the merchant’s account
  • Easy subscriptions
  • Returning the money conveniently within 5-7 business days
  • Canceling the transaction and returning the money

Payment gateways is the sure-shot way through which all kinds of payments are possible. Imagine such complex transactions are well taken care of within the span of a few seconds. Payment gateways are also responsible for encrypting crucial aspects such as debit card or credit card information, google pay, CVV, and expiry date, and safeguarding all this information from unwanted and unnecessary malicious attacks.

Technically speaking payment gateways are way more complicated than you can see. Here as soon as the transaction is conducted, money is received from the buyer’s account. This is possible when the payment processor links the customer’s bank with your bank and passes information safely.

Payment Gateways Integration

How to Integrate a Payment Gateway into E-Commerce Website

With the continuous advancements happening around, lots and lots of new horizons seemed to have opened up for both businesses as well as customers. Whatever you need, you have a wide range of tools, technologies and products available and that too without paying extravagantly. Now payment gateways are generally of two types: hosted gateways and integrated payment gateways. Hosted payment gateways are the ones which may not be directly linked to the website but customers are seamlessly redirected to the platform where transactions can be processed. You might end up checking out on the site but the payment happens off-site only. Some of the common yet known examples of hosted gateways are PayPal and 2Checkout.

Whereas integrated payment gateways on the other hand is said when the gateways are directly linked and well-integrated with the website. All this is done using a simple API (Application Programming Interface). Here payments are generally made on-site and directly to the store. Businesses are required to pay for installation and integration services. Moreover, this type is way more effortless and smoother and highly recommendable for large and mobile-friendly businesses.

The working of a Payment Gateway!

First and foremost, the process begins with a customer submitting the request and then once the request is submitted, encryption is initiated and all the private information and sensitive card details are kept safe. Next, the payment processor receives funds and this is how a successful payment transaction is done.

Choosing the Right Payment Gateway

Fortunately, there are several payment gateways available across the globe. Well, to make your choice easier, we would like to shed some light on some of the most popular and tried-and-tested payment gateways that offer a wide range of benefits and advantages. Also, you can never go wrong by choosing any of these below-mentioned payment gateways.

#1 PayTabs

Being one of the award winning payment gateway, PayTabs has been a game changer across the globe. The payment gateway ensures seamless sending, receiving and sharing invoices with the help of email, QR codes, SMS and even Whatsapp or different popular social media channels. Yes, you read it right, social media channels, it is possible to share secured payment links via facebook and instagram, etc. Paytabs is also helpful when it comes to receiving repetitive amounts such as subscriptions, membership fees, etc.

Gone are the days when paperwork was given pretty much importance. Paytabs ensures there is no paperwork and instant onboarding involved. Other relevant features that make Paytab one of the leading payment gateways across the globe include an amazing dashboard, secured payment links, repeat billing, quick and easy integrations, different payment methods involved and secured payments. Speaking further about security, it may quite interest you to know that the platform is created with a two-layered fraud protection system that ensures nothing less than secured payment processing.

#2 Paypal

Now I am sure there is nobody who doesn’t know what Paypal is or at least might have heard about the term before. Well, this one turns out to be the most universal payment gateway found and is suitable for almost any and every business across the globe. The payment gateway in particular supports different payment methods and services such as PayPal Payments Pro, PayPal Express Checkout, and Braintree.

PayPal is quite popular among freelancers as it is paid through systems and brings more and more money to accounts easily. If you are looking for a payment gateway that is easy and convenient for conducting more and more transactions then PayPal is the right option to choose. Moreover, when you end up offering a familiar gateway to your customers, they will come again and again to your store which ultimately results in a high return on investment. The price range might vary from 2.9 percent + $0.30 per transaction to 3.9 per cent + a fee depending on the currency required.

#3 Amazon Payments

The next leading payment gateway that seems to have gained the attention of several businesses is Amazon Payments. We all know Amazon is a huge platform built for online retailers and so is Amazon payments. Now this one is a hosted payment gateway that is well-integrated by using APIs. This particular payment gateway highly focuses on mobile payments as well as different payment methods including credit cards as well.

The price ranges from  2.9 per cent + $0.30 per transaction. International transactions are charged 3.9 per cent. Here there is no setting up or any kind of monthly fees.

#4 Authorize.Net

Now this payment gateway is the oldest one available across the globe. Since its inception in 1996, Authorize.Net seems to have a decent and well-established reputation. In fact, many people call this payment gateway the king of online payments as it offers great fraud protection, easy-to-use checkout opportunities, customizable integrations and subscription-based numerous features. Here you are bound to find a friendly interface and a $49 setup fee, paid only once with a $25 getaway fee, monthly, $25 chargeback fee, Transaction fee – 2.9% + $0.30 and so on.

Final Words

As mentioned earlier, payment gateways are many but what’s more important is to make the right choice. So whenever you choose a payment gateway, just make sure that it is PCI compliant, provides notifications on every single transaction made, stores customers’ payment information, provides high-level security, can be customized according to different needs, well integrated with tools such as accounting software or shopping carts, etc.

So I hope now you know exactly what needs to be done and how to choose the right payment gateway for your ecommerce store.

Vishal ShahVishal Shah works as an executive at TatvaSoft.com. He is responsible for new technology integrations in development projects. He prefers to share his valuable insights among the development audience by blogging.

1 year ago
5 Excuses for Late Payment (And How to Manage Them)
Mohab Guest Posts, Social Commerce 0

In today’s economy, freelancing has never been more exciting or rewarding. The rise of social media and e-commerce has resulted in an array of creative ventures. Now, freelancers can do business on various platforms, selling goods and services to a global audience. What’s more, social commerce platforms like Paymes make it easier for entrepreneurs to kickstart their freelance venture.

That said, freelancing comes with its challenges, not least the issue of chasing payments. Whether you’re self-employed or run a business with a small team, this can be incredibly frustrating.

Chances are, you’ve been hit with every excuse in the book. So, how do you know which excuses for late payment are valid and how to respond to ensure a swift resolution?

5 Common excuses for late payment

Here are five of the most common reasons you’ll hear for why a payment is late.

1.Cash flow concerns

One of the most challenging excuses to own up to is also frequently one of the most honest.

Financial difficulties can have various causes. Customers might be experiencing trouble at home or loss within the family, which can inhibit or disrupt cash flow. Or they themselves may be waiting to receive payment.

In any case, many people and businesses are susceptible to cash flow concerns, and unfortunately, these repercussions can be far-reaching.

5 Excuses for Late Payment (And How to Manage Them)

2.Disputes over quality of goods or services

Perhaps the most elaborate excuse involves customers claiming you’re not providing them with the level of quality they expect. Sometimes they’ll have proof; other times, this excuse is a pretext for getting a discount or avoiding paying altogether.

The key here is that they’ve already completed their browse and buy stage regarding your product. They are interested in what you offer in at least some capacity, so it’s worth trying to figure out whether they genuinely received damaged goods or a sub-par service and how you can resolve this.

3.Administrative issues

This excuse covers any situation where admin problems, whether on your end or the customer’s, interfere with timely payments.

Perhaps an email invoice was never sent, you mistyped crucial payment information, or bank details were entered incorrectly.

While these may be innocent mistakes, it does feed into the next excuse.

4.Miscommunication or misinformation

Perhaps a customer was given the wrong information, or worse, no information regarding how to make a payment. It may be a simple case of miscommunication or assuming your customer had the relevant information to make the payment on time. Or perhaps the customer assumed they could pay at a later date.

To avoid this, it’s crucial that you implement a billing and payment process that’s clear and concise for both parties. Remember, if customers don’t receive their bill, they can’t pay you.

5.Willful non-payment

It’s a harsh and unfortunate truth: some customers simply don’t want to pay.

This is not the same as customers disagreeing with you over what they’re paying for. Rather, this excuse is about customers knowing they owe you money but refusing to pay.

5 Excuses for Late Payment (And How to Manage Them)

How to manage late payments

Now that you know some of the most common excuses for late payment, what can you do when you’re faced with them?

The following tips will guide you toward managing late payments effectively so customers don’t leave you hanging. They’ll also help you maintain a healthy relationship with your customer base.

Set clear payment terms

In business, one of the best ways to avoid miscommunication is to be precise and clear so customers aren’t left with questions about your products or services. The same goes for payment terms.

Naturally, your employees will clearly understand when and how they are paid their monthly salary. You should have the same clarity and control over your incoming payments.

Explicitly lay out your payment process with customers and integrate this into automated services. Accounting payroll software is an excellent tool to help you control your business finances, allowing you to track invoices and overdue payments, set up recurring invoices, and create payslips all in one place. You’ll also be able to customize your invoices to include your payment terms, so it is very clear what they are.

5 Excuses for Late Payment (And How to Manage Them)

Inform customers of consequences

It would be great to think that having clear terms and an efficient payment process means you’ll always get paid on time. However, the truth is there will always be customers who miss payment deadlines.

With that in mind, always be clear and objective about the consequences of delayed payments. When issuing an invoice, state the payment deadline and mention the course of action if payment is not received on time. This could mean contacting a debt collection agency or issuing a late payment fee.

It tells customers what to expect and gives them a chance to avoid those consequences.

Stay professional

Feeling frustrated or angry when customers don’t pay on time is understandable. However, the way you deal with late payments is a reflection of your company. After all, you never know whether an excuse is a genuine error, so you don’t want to assume the worst of customers and lose their business.

You can assume the best intentions while still standing your ground. A quick ‘I appreciate that this was a no-fault error and would still require payment by [date]’ message can do the trick.

Follow up regularly

A huge part of business success is implementing tools and processes that streamline workflows. You may already have implemented HR management software, which can help you manage employee expenses, track staff performance, and seamlessly onboard new employees.

Similarly, digital solutions can be hugely beneficial when chasing payments. Designated software can be used to issue automated reminders, follow-up messages, and personalized confirmation emails that act as proof of payment.

On top of ensuring a quicker, more seamless resolution to the situation, this lets you apply a personal touch and prove to customers that you care about their business.

5 Excuses for Late Payment (And How to Manage Them)

Be flexible

Not every solution is suitable for every customer. For that reason, it’s best to stay flexible by suggesting alternatives on your payment page.

For example, you can offer a customer the option to pay half of the agreed sum upfront and the other half after they receive a product or service. You might also offer payment in installments or work on consignment.

Provide different methods of payment to make it as easy as possible for your customers. For example using the Paymes social commerce platform payment can be made via a link, through the store, or even via a QR code.

5 Excuses for Late Payment (And How to Manage Them)

This shows that you’re willing to compromise and can help build trust between you and your customers.

Final thoughts

Late payments can result in significant costs for your business. However, it’s essential to act professionally when dealing with excuses for late payment. Be proactive: set clear payment guidelines and ensure customers can pay for services quickly and easily. Try to identify the genuine reason for the late payment, be polite but firm when following up, and always work with your customer to ensure a smooth resolution.

Bio:

Sage.comSage is the global market leader for technology that exists to knock down barriers so everyone can thrive. Millions of small and mid-sized businesses, our partners, and accountants trust our finance, HR, and payroll software to make work and money flow. We digitise business processes, strengthening relationships between SMBs and customers, suppliers, employees, banks, and governments. Knocking down barriers also means we use our time, technology, and experience to support digital inequality, economic inequality, and the climate crisis.

2 years ago
5 Easy Ways to Use Social Commerce to Improve Your SEO
Mohab Guest Posts, Social Commerce 0

Social commerce is an important and innovative development in the field of digital marketing. While not entirely new, it has had a major resurgence in recent years, especially among retailers. Social commerce can significantly speed up companies’ integration into the physical business channel and enhance their brand exposure.

Social commerce is the integration of social networking into the shopping process. It improves your SEO by creating new content that drives additional traffic to your site, builds your brand presence on social media, and increases customer loyalty. This trend indicates that social network users are more likely to purchase and use products as they become aware of them while using their favorite networks. To boost your revenue and profit from social commerce, you have to have a sound knowledge of your target audience, understand their feelings and behavior patterns on different networks, and always provide them with the best user experience.

5 Most Powerful Social Commerce Tactics to Improve Your SEO

1. Master social search optimization

With many consumers now engaging directly with social networks to do their shopping, brands that want to win in this space must master the basics of social search optimization. In order to succeed, you have to do more than just send out a series of tweets, maintain a Facebook page, upload stunning images on Instagram, or write a blog post once in a while. A solid and consistent SEO strategy can help you reach your specific target market – not only boosting your brand but driving direct traffic back to your website, too.

First, consider your goals for each channel, including what keywords you will use and how social media fits into your overall strategy. To succeed on social media, brands need to invest time into creating personalized, relevant content and deliver an outstanding customer experience from the moment their customers touch social network channels. You need to establish clear pathways within your social profiles and make sure everything is easy to navigate. It is also important to have a clear, compelling description of what you can offer on your business page that is written in a way that inspires shareability with your target audience.

Moreover, by using hashtags correctly, you’ll make sure that when your target market is researching products, they come across yours. And don’t forget to keep your geo-data up to date – on both your profile and posts. A local business may think the right keywords are being used, and the website is showing up in local search engine results. Still, it may be losing local leads. It could be due to an incorrect address listed on the website. Make sure your location is available on Google Maps or other local service providers, and get your web address listed correctly in search engines.

hashtags-can-improve-your-SEO

2. Invest in social checkout

The reality is that the cumbersome nature of purchasing through traditional methods has limited the growth of eCommerce. This blunted growth is due to shoppers preferring a convenient buying process, which allows them to purchase items in just a few clicks. You can grab the attention of your customers on popular online media channels like Instagram by allowing them to purchase directly from your social media. The ability to shop on social media brings customers as close as possible to the checkout process, which makes them more likely to complete their purchases.

Although this selling model lets customers complete purchases without leaving the social media app, they still have to visit the site for checkout. For example, Facebook and Twitter don’t have a “Buy Now” button that automatically charges users, so they have to click on a link to continue the process. For sellers, this means that one or two extra clicks are needed to secure conversions.

As a site owner, you want the checkout experience to be a smooth and pleasant one. This means making sure your site is fast and responsive on all devices and that your checkout can handle heavy traffic without error. With the help of SE Ranking, you can score your site in a matter of seconds and get some useful tips on how to enhance your site performance. It will thoroughly assess your website’s technical health, notify you of all issues based on their level of significance and category, as well as check your Core Web Vitals so that you will be able to improve user experience.

the-results-of-the-SE-Ranking-website-audit

3. Create audience-focused and engaging content

With the huge growth and adoption of social networks, many businesses are now thriving and making money off of social sharing. For businesses to improve their chances of success on these platforms, they need to ensure that the content created for their social media marketing campaigns is engaging, relevant, and of high quality. By providing content that is relevant to people’s interests, businesses will attract larger audiences, which will, in turn, increase their chances of seeing strong results in the sales funnel. Doing this requires a natural understanding of what the audience likes. Once you understand how your ideal customers interact, it becomes easier to engage with them, and it will show in conversions for your website.

the-formats-marketers-use-to-distribute-content-for-social-media

Sites that create great content are able to build trust with their audience and capture leads. With so many eCommerce sites on the web now, it’s more important than ever to really differentiate yourself with your products, services, and brand experience. Since many people share their shopping experiences on social media, with accurate infographics and fascinating facts, your brand can encourage potential customers to click on your website to find more information or make a purchase.

4. Encourage UGC

UGC is content provided by users, also known as “user-contributed content” or “user-generated content”. UGC generally refers to users uploading their own photos and videos. It could also be text contributions from users, e.g., comments, forums, reviews, etc. When a potential customer sees that others have used, liked, and been happy with your service/product, they have more confidence in making an expensive purchase. So it should come as no surprise that encouraging customers to share their stories (which then also becomes social proof) increases your sales. It’s also a great tool for generating traffic, leads, and even conversions.

tagging-product-in-Instagram-feed

Encourage user-generated content by giving your customers the tools to post images of the product they bought from your store, such as a social sharing widget or a photo-sharing website button. This will give people another chance to have people look at your brand and will also allow them to provide you with feedback on your products as well. This way, social proof entices visitors to convert and proves your business’ superiority to convince visitors to convert. Highlighting user-generated content on social media channels also builds credibility, as it helps to establish trust from visitors.

5. Make purchasing easy

Until recently, the customer journey was linear. Now, social commerce has made it possible for users to interact with promotions and products. It is a more convenient option for users and allows social networks to offer a new stream of revenue by serving as a bridge between discovery and purchase. When your visitors can make a purchase in a few clicks versus having to log into their email account or even create a new one together – you will see higher conversions and increase your bottom line.

Paytabs is an easy-to-use and powerful shopping cart addon designed to help you sell digital and physical products. It is designed specifically for small online businesses that need a convenient and secure way to take payments online. Paytabs enables you to start processing payments instantly, with no credit card merchant account required. With it, anyone can process in-person credit card payments without any special software or hardware.

PayTabs-addon-that-integrates-online-store

Conclusion

The world, along with the Internet, has evolved since the time of wide open spaces. Competing in online markets is more challenging than ever before. Today, there are millions of websites on search engines and social media platforms, all vying for attention. Social commerce applies the principles and best practices of social media to traditional marketing efforts to drive awareness and increase sales. When planning a social commerce strategy, the first thing to consider is where you want to sell your products. You need to choose networks where your target audience spends its time and focus on adding value there through promotions, tailored content, and personal engagement. Social commerce allows you to reach out to your existing and prospective customers, increasing brand awareness and driving sales leads.

ConradConrad
Conrad is a professional blogger, content maker, and freelance writer. He has written many great and valuable posts on a variety of topics. Conrad loves outdoor activities. He believes the fresh air brings him inspiration for new ideas.

2 years ago
E-commerce valuation: Measure your online business worth
Mohab Ecommerce, Guest Posts 0

Whether you’re looking to sell your online business, or simply to gauge how much it’s worth, e-commerce valuation is a useful process that’s not always intuitive.

That’s why this article is going to take you through the steps and workflows associated with the task.

We’ll also discuss the reasons why you’d need to conduct a valuation in the first place, as well as covering the factors to take into consideration to help you start off on the right foot.

Importance of business valuation

E-commerce valuation lets you gauge the rate at which your online-based company has grown.

That’s particularly useful if you’re new to the world of e-commerce business, or if you’re looking to grow in the near future–in which case you’ll also benefit from financial technology like Paymes by PayTabs, which helps you get into the e-commerce world more quickly and easily.

E-commerce valuation: Measure your online business worth
Image sourced from PayTabs.com

Business valuation is also crucial when you’re selling your company. It’s difficult to secure buyers without proof that your company is highly valuable, after all.

By conducting regular or semi-regular business valuations, you can ensure your company is still growing at acceptable rates. You can also compare its estimated growth with its actual growth, which helps you create more accurate estimates in the future.

E-commerce business valuation methods

In order to work out what your business’ total value is, you must first determine what your earnings are, as these make up a major factor in the overall figure. To that end, you can use the following methods.

SDE method

SDE, or Seller’s Discretionary Earnings, emphasizes the importance of your company’s cash flow history. It can be calculated as follows:

SDE = Revenue – Cost of Goods Sold – Operating Expenses + Owner Compensation

As it’s a very straightforward formula and approach, the SDE method is popular among businesses that don’t have specific accounting skills.

EBIDTA method

Short for Earnings Before Interests and Depreciation and Amortization, the EBITDA method determines your e-commerce store’s overall profitability instead of focusing exclusively on its actual profits in a given year.

That’s why EBITDA is more accurate, on the whole.

Mature businesses that aren’t going through sudden growth jumps tend to prefer EBITDA for this reason.
E-commerce valuation: Measure your online business worth

Free to use image sourced from Unsplash

DCF analysis

Another popular method is DCF (Discounted Cash Flow) analysis. This focuses on the future, and on extrapolating based on current facts rather than historical ones.

DCF analysis calculates the future worth of a company based on how long it will most likely take before that business starts seeing ROI on the products they sell. Alternatively, it can consider the length of time it will take before companies get ROI on their customers.

Revenue and growth valuation

This approach is great for e-commerce businesses that focus on rapid, large-scale growth, including startups and other high-value new e-commerce companies.

Obtaining your values in this method is quite simple. All you need to do is set a fixed period, usually a year, and look at the total revenue your company earned in that time. We’ll be taking that number and applying a multiplier to it shortly; this is the earnings multiple.

To easily access the data you’ll need for this valuation, you can use specifically designed accounting software for online sellers. This can track and monitor your financial information so you’ll always have access to the necessary data.
E-commerce valuation: Measure your online business worth

Screenshot taken from sage.com

Critical drivers when valuing an e-commerce business

Since a valuation is meant to give an overview of the business’ value as a whole, it has to take a lot of key variables into account.

Here’s a quick overview of some of the other biggest factors to consider.

Business age

How long has your company existed for? If it’s very young, you may have a harder time proving that any financial success it’s enjoyed can be replicated going forward, which negatively affects its value. On the other hand, an older business will have a provable record of surviving difficult times, which improves its overall value.

Financial health and records

Are your records, especially your financial ones, well-organized and easy to use? Anyone auditing your business should be able to find what they need in a matter of minutes. Otherwise, you risk sounding like your valuation is not based on facts.

If you’re a UK business owner, getting a headstart on the HMRC’s Making Tax Digital (MTD) scheme will keep your records organized and up-to-date. Even if you’re not based in the UK, adopting a digital approach to your taxes and financial records will keep them streamlined and make backing up your valuation that much easier.

It will also demonstrate to any prospective buyers that you’re ready to handle any new developments quickly and effectively. These could be developments like MTD in the UK or the Federal Decree Law No. 47 that has recently been passed in the UAE.
E-commerce valuation: Measure your online business worth

Image sourced from sage.com

Revenue concentration

Does all of your income originate from a single source, or are your sources of revenue more diversified? Do you trade internationally, or is your business focused on dealing with local clients?

A company with high revenue concentration is less likely to sell well, as this creates more liabilities and makes it harder to deal with unpredictable factors in the future (or unprecedented events like the global pandemic).

RRC rate (Refund, Returns, Chargebacks)

Does your company take a hands-off approach to customer relationships, or do you put in active work to educate customers and nurture them? If it’s the latter, you’re likely to see fewer RRCs, since customers will only make educated choices about purchases and are therefore more likely to keep the items they buy.

Website

E-commerce sites can only be profitable when enough people visit them. This is why the levels of traffic your online store sees factor into its earnings multiple. This is because a store that already has high traffic levels as a result of excellent website design has greater value to a prospective buyer.

The takeaway

E-commerce valuation can be difficult, but it’s a very useful process to know how to carry out. When you’re able to value your business accurately, you’ll have a clear indicator of how much it’s worth, and how much it’s grown over the years.

Also, a valuation lets you see your business’ worth in the context of its industry, age, and practices. This helps you get a realistic idea of the total worth of your business whether you’re based in Europe, Middle East, or America.

Bio:

Sage.comSage is the global market leader for technology that exists to knock down barriers so everyone can thrive. Millions of small and mid-sized businesses, our partners, and accountants trust our finance, HR, and payroll software to make work and money flow. We digitise business processes, strengthening relationships between SMBs and customers, suppliers, employees, banks, and governments. Knocking down barriers also means we use our time, technology, and experience to support digital inequality, economic inequality, and the climate crisis.

2 years ago
How to Integrate Payment System Into the Existing App
Mohab Ecommerce, Guest Posts 0

How to Integrate Payment System Into the Existing App
Two or three years ago, users preferred to choose and pay for online purchases from their desktops. However, statistics show that payments from mobile devices are almost equalized with more familiar payments from PCs. This trend is predicted to continue growing. That means mobile payments will soon become an industry standard.

There are several variants of social commerce payments: to connect aggregator’s or gateway’s services and be satisfied with an adaptive version or create your application with a smart payment mechanism. Below we will discuss in more detail how to integrate a payment system into existing apps.

What mobile apps exist?

There are two classifications of applications. The first classification divides apps into native and non-native by how they are developed. By default, native applications are those written using a native programming language (Java/Kotlin for Android, Swift/Objective C for iOS).

The second classification divides apps into native and hybrid based on where the main content is stored. In native apps, the application’s main functions are available offline; the server side stores, for example, only databases. Hybrid applications store data on the server and implement all functions not related to hardware (for example, catalogs and product cards in an online store application).

How to Integrate Payment System Into the Existing App

How to integrate the payment system into an application

So how to integrate the payment system into an app? Let’s discuss WebView, deep linking, aggregator/gateway API, and mobile SDK.

WebView

One of the most popular ways to integrate a payment system is when the user goes from the mobile app’s interface to the payment system’s interface.

WebView advantage is that it is easy to integrate. Almost all content and functionality are embedded into the app from your website. This option suits cross-platform apps.

WebView disadvantage is the possible loss of customers due to switching to an unfamiliar interface and difficulties with payment. WebView does not have access to browser cookies and authorization mechanisms for some payment methods, so paying for purchases is sometimes quite a painful process. It happens that the card data are not stored in cookies at all. People have to re-enter the data each time. And when paying with an electronic wallet, they also have to authorize themselves.

Deep linking

A deep linking is a one-click link that takes a person to a specific application screen. Example: You decide to buy a ticket for a concert on a landing page, click the “pay” button, and are redirected to the online app. Or, if you don’t have it installed, you are redirected to the app store to install it.

The advantage of deep linking is that the user is not afraid despite the transition to another application. People have used it a hundred times.

The advantage of deep linking is that the user leaves the current application and may not return to it. Additionally, deep linking does not always work as intended (especially on different devices). Another disadvantage is that if deep linking sends the customer to an app page he has never used, he or she is unlikely to make a purchase.

Integration with aggregator/gateway API

The differences from the payment process on the website are minimal. An agreement is signed with the aggregator to provide services for the app. The payment form is integrated via API. But in this case, you must implement all payment forms by hand (card data – number, date, CVC, email or phone number, etc.).

API integration has one significant disadvantage – a PCI DSS certificate, which you have to get to connect to the services of the payment system. PCI DSS is a security standard for all organizations that store, process, and transmit cardholder and/or other authentication data. This is difficult but doable for medium and small businesses, although it can be associated with weeks of testing the application for compliance with the necessary parameters.

PayTabs offers a Unified API Gateway (UAG), a flexible integration solution. It is optimum for empowering mobile banking and payment applications along with Digital Banks and Instant Payments.

Mobile SDK

The SDK is a software library for iOS and Android that makes life easier for app owners and developers. Unlike the API, which is more like ready-made building blocks, the functionality of the SDK is broader, comparable to a workshop full of different tools to create anything.

PCI DSS compliance is not required: the customers’ bank card data is not passed through the online store’s backend system, so there is no need to undergo certification. The company providing the SDK solution, like PayTabs, will do it. Payment takes place in the app’s native interface – the user does not need to go to the web.

PayTabs offers a plug-and-play SDK that facilitates seamless and secure payments via your mobile app.

Conclusion

You probably know that apps are expensive. But if your top competitors have had one for a long time, it’s worth thinking about: it’s more convenient for consumers to shop this way.If you don’t want to bother – WebView is fine, but from a UX point of view, it’s not the best solution (especially when paying for purchases). Mobile SDK is on a larger scale and will require more resources at the application creation stage, but the final result will be more viable and comfortable from the user’s point of view.

Alyse FalkAlyse Falk
Alyse Falk is a freelance writer with experience in digital marketing, technologies, content marketing, marketing trends, and branding strategies. Alyse also writes for several reputable sites where she shares her hints for creating content.

2 years ago