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What are the key components of a custom payment gateway?

Tag: ecommerce

what-are-the-key-components-of-a-custom-payment-gateway
Mohab Ecommerce 0

Choosing the right payment gateway is crucial for an online business as these gateways can complete online transactions quickly, safely and efficiently. A robust payment gateway not only provides efficiency but also maintains integrity of the operations. There are several ways to incorporate a payment gateway into your system. You can choose to deploy a third-party payment gateway for processing your transactions or go for a personalized payment processing system. Each system has its own unique features, but a custom payment gateway can provide you with flexibility and efficiency which is unparalleled. Here are some of the key components of a custom payment gateway you should know about, to make informed decisions.

  1. Great Customer Experience:

    A custom payment gateway should be designed in such a manner that it maximizes the customer experience. The payment process should ideally have minimal number of steps to follow. It should also be intuitive so that the transaction proceeds in a smooth manner. You can also enhance the consumer experience by using well-known logos for different processes. The process should also be transparent so as to foster a sense of security and reliability in the clients. You can also enhance user experience by offering a wide range of payment options. Such flexibility will allow your users to maximize their utility and create brand loyalty.

  1. Sufficient Security:

    While speed and simplicity are desirable qualities in a custom payment gateway, it is equally important to ensure the safety factor of the transactions There are several security certifications available which will be helpful in providing a sense of safety to your clients. Ideally, your system should be PCI compliant. Further, you should also constantly upgrade your technology to effectively counter new spam and cyber-attack threats. End to end encryption of the transactions will ensure that the data transmitted remains safe and secure. Additional precautions should be undertaken to further secure personally identifiable information such as social security number and date of birth.

  1. Freedom of Customization:

    One of the biggest features of a custom payment gateway is that you can design it the way you want. You can add features while taking out some of the other complexities which you do not require. If you have a mainly subscription based business, you can allow for recurring payments on select dates. This feature will take away the hassle of recurring billing and will make the process more efficient. If your business deals with overseas clients, then it will make sense for your payment system to accept a wide range of foreign currencies. You may also want to display your payment system in different languages for making it easy to follow for your clients.

  1. Sensible Fees and Charges:

    Most payment gateways are able to provide their services at affordable rates due to economies of scale. However, the various benefits provided by a custom designed payment system can justify its higher costs. If planned properly, you might be able to reduce these expenses on a custom payment gateway as well. You should carry out extended and informed deliberation with various financial service providers to ensure that you optimize various charges and fees. Further, you should also pass down some of the benefits to your clients so as to build a solid customer base.

  1. Modular Feature:

    Setting up a custom payment processing system can be a daunting task. There are several variables to be taken care of, including the number of processors to collaborate with. Ideally, you should work with multiple processors to minimize the possibility of outages. This setup will also provide you with leverage in terms of negotiation. If you are building a custom payment system, then you should pay adequate attention to security features as well. Further, a foolproof process should be set up for handling arbitration, chargebacks and disputes. The process should be such that your clients do not face unnecessary hurdles while getting their grievances addressed.

All in all, custom payment gateways can indeed help you optimize your business processes. You can also ensure that your clients have the smoothest possible experience by incorporating features specific to your business. The process should also be flexible so that it can handle any changes in your business model.

4 years ago
top-reasons-why-your-business-should-accept-payments-online
Mohab Ecommerce 0

For a business, one of the most important tasks and objectives is to maintain the profitability and liquidity of the organization. It is important to ensure that you are able to receive your dues in a prompt manner. This can be made easy by adopting the right online payment methods. If your business is able to accept online payments, then you can convert your receivables into cash with relative ease. Online shoppers also prefer to make payments through digital modes these days. Here are some of the advantages of online payment systems.

Collaboration with Expert Online Payment Providers: While you can set up your own online payment system, teaming up with specialized online payment processors has many benefits. There are certain points to keep in mind while choosing your online payment provider. They should possess state of the art infrastructure so as to offer efficiency and security to your clients. It is preferable that the system is also equipped with the latest anti-scam software to provide protection against cyber-attacks. Further, you should also pay thorough attention to their fee structure. There should be no element of surprise for you or your clients. A reputed gateway will disclose all fees and charges upfront. If the provider charges fee on volume basis, you should ensure that it is reasonable at all the levels. Such collaborations can provide you with specialized services, making your business more efficient.

            Also Read: 7 Tips for Safe Online Transactions

Easy Setup: The process of accepting online payments is not complicated at all. The setup takes only a short while and offers immense convenience. You can easily integrate this payment system with your website and online store. The integration process may differ from one online payment gateway to another but the fundamentals remain the same. The registration process is also simple and quick, requiring you to provide some essential information. There is generally minimal paperwork involved. Once the set up is integrated, you are only required to take up periodical maintenance sessions. Now, you are all set to accept online payments from your clients.

Affordable: Thanks to consistent improvement in technology, online payment systems are becoming more affordable with time. Most online payment processors now offer accounts with zero setup fees. This feature adds on to the efficiency of your business. As more and more businesses are signing up for online payment processing systems, the transaction fees are also coming down, thus rationalizing the operational costs. In many cases, the online payment processor may also agree for a lumpsum payment, irrespective of the volume. This deal may be ideal for fast-growing businesses. With declining costs, the benefits of online payment systems outweigh the shortcomings. Businesses now get to boost their margins by using these cost-effective online payment solutions.

Widen Your Market: Online payment solutions allow you to increase your turnover and reach a wider market. With the help of these gateways, you can service overseas markets as well, since you can accept foreign currencies. Online payment solutions facilitate the use of international credit and debit cards, thus increasing the reach of your products and services. You can attract more customers with online payment facilities and gain a competitive edge over your peers. You can offer more payment options to your clients, allowing them to spend their money without hassle. Further, online payment systems are known to encourage impulse purchases. Such purchases can add significantly to your bottom line.

Better Customer Satisfaction: By introducing online payment facility, you can greatly enhance the shopping experience for your clients. They will have more choices when it comes to making payments for your goods and services. They will also be in a position to plan their budget better, as they can use their credit cards instead of making upfront cash payments. The faster delivery of goods is another benefit, since online payments are processed faster than offline payments. Online payment systems generally come with inbuilt security features, which increase the element of trust and safety.

To conclude, accepting online payments has become essential for all businesses, especially after the pandemic, as social distancing will continue for some time to come. And with easy set up and operations, this feature can help you boost your revenue and profit too.

4 years ago
Top-Ways-to-Boost-Referral-Traffic-and-Attract-Customers
Mohab Customer Experience 0

Referral traffic is the number of people who visit your website through your links posted on other websites. However, not all referral traffic is the same. While you try to increase your referral traffic, it is also important to pay attention to the quality of your referral traffic. Remember that good quality traffic leads to higher sales and consequently better revenue. Here are some of the tips which will help you gain more and better quality referral traffic.

Collaborate: One of the most tested methods of generating referral traffic is to collaborate with other media players. You can start by referring other businesses on your website, which may in turn refer your business on their websites. Such swapping is essential for building initial momentum. This method of referral generation leads to an exponential increase in traffic. There are also several online platforms which specialize in such referral networks. You can become a part of such networks where different patrons help each other by providing mutual referrals. On an individual basis, you can start by referring your family, friends or other acquaintances’ businesses and build on it.

Offer Incentives: While you may start by referring your personal network’s businesses, after a while, you will need to ramp up your game. You can increase you referral potential by offering incentives to people who are willing to endorse your business. You can start providing freebies or other incentives to your regular customers. This step will not only help you build your referral network, but will also help in gaining repeat purchases. You can offer special discounts or free items every time any of your existing customers refers your business. It is helpful to keep such a system tier-based, which means, you can provide higher or more lucrative incentives when such referrals get converted into sales. With this one step, you can make sure your existing customers become more loyal to your business, while generating new clients at the same time.

Start Blogging: Blogging is an excellent way to create and maintain an online presence. Apart from creating your own blog, where you can offer helpful information, you can also generate referral traffic by posting guest blogs. Writing guest blog posts also helps in enhancing the visibility of your business. However, in order to maximize the potential of guest blog posts, it is important that you provide value to the blogs you are writing on. You can do this by identifying customer pain points and then offering solutions for them. It is also imperative that you pick the right platform. For this purpose, you should identify your target market and then engage with the bloggers who are active in that segment.

Use Local Partner Sites: Your business may be online, but it does not mean that all the promotional activities also have to be carried out online. One of the most efficient ways of promoting your business offline is to work with local partner sites. You can start by sponsoring some local events. However, such events should be closely related to your core business. You can also carry out speaking assignment at such events. Such programs let you connect with people organically, ultimately helping you in boosting your business. While you may start with local events, later on, you can expand your horizons to attend distant events as well.

Work on Your Landing Page: You can also recalibrate your website to generate high referral traffic. You should ensure that your landing page is not only attractive but is functional as well. You can further boost the traffic to your website by adding calls to action on your main page. Apart from putting in relevant information there, you can also add testimonials on your landing page to induce new visitors to make a purchase. The page should be divided into appropriate categories to make navigation easier. As a finishing touch, all your buttons and calls to action should stand out to persuade your clients to take an action.

All in all, every business has its unique features, and your strategy to boost your referral traffic should be in line with your goals. However, the above tips are likely to work for all types of businesses. With these easy to implement steps, you can ensure that your business is in full swing.

4 years ago
How-to-Win-More-Loyal-Customers-with-Email-and-Mailbot
Mohab Customer Experience 0

Email marketing is widely used by the businesses to increase their market reach. This method is considered to be highly efficient and effective as per prospect cost is amongst the lowest of all the methods available. However, the impact of email marketing campaign is dependent on the way it is carried out. Many businesses may lack the technical knowledge or the resources required for running an effectual email marketing blitz, but here are some of the tips which may help you in overcoming these shortcomings.

Engage Customers: email campaigns may be used for engaging customers in a meaningful manner. For this purpose, you should design upbeat introductory emails so as to create positive impression of your business. The tone of this email should be inviting in nature in order to induce the receiver to visit your website and browse its content. Before you start paying attention to the email body, you should ensure that even subject line is personalized. Such personalization should then be carried out through the entire email. You can also add a list of recommended products in your email. This step will make customers feel more invited to engage with you. However, you should note that such emails do not become too narrowly focused. While it is important to personalize the content, still an effort should be made so that the customer gets to know the entire range of your offerings.

Address Cart Abandonment: while you may be successful at bringing clients to your website, you still may face other issues such as idle browsers and cart abandonment. Idle browsing occurs when a visitor comes to your website but leaves without purchasing any goods. Cart abandonment is the next stage of this issue, where person visiting the website browse the goods, adds a few to their cart but eventually do not purchase them. You can use emails for addressing this issue. For bringing them back and to make them actually complete the purchase process, your email should contain the images and description of the goods they searched for on your website. This step will remind them of the goods they might be interested in but may have forgotten. This way you can not only increase your website traffic but also conversion rate.

Respect Privacy: an effective email campaign is designed to engage customers and for this purpose it may use the data related to such clients. One of the most prominent example in this regard is the incorporation of shopping history in emails. While such incorporation helps in reigniting the customer’s interest in your products, it may also seem like invasion of privacy, if it is not done in the right manner. You should ensure that your email campaign uses only that type of data which is largely non-sensitive in nature. You should avoid using personal details of the client in your emails.

Use MailBots: email campaigns are not one off in nature and need to be carried out in a planned and consistent manner. However, the task may become tedious if you have to implement the entire process manually. In these cases, you can take help of automation processes such as employing mailbots. Such programs generally come with built in email structures, which may then be customized to meet your business’s requirements. You can use such bots for sending all kind of emails, ranging from re-engagement campaigns to introduction mails. These bots are also useful for analytics as you can program them to collect data regarding consumer behavior, inventory level and ordering pattern. You can also create rules for mailbots so that they send out specific emails at specific times, without requiring any further intervention from your side.

Above pointers can help you design an email campaign which yields optimal results. The use of bots for this purpose is highly recommended as it can help you save time, money and other resources. These bots can also help you segregate your entire market using different criterions, helping you create more personalized campaigns for each of these segments. These email campaigns should be able to pique the curiosity and interest of the recipients, ultimately adding to your top line and bottom line.

4 years ago
Automated-Billing-System
Mohab Ecommerce 0

An automated billing system is an extremely important part of a business’s ecosystem. This is an elaborate system which consists of several parts and complicated procedures. In order to run a business in a smooth manner, it is essential to have a robust yet flexible billing system. Paying attention to your billing system ensures that your business stays liquid and does not face unnecessary cash flow issues. Here are some of the tips which can help you streamline your billing system and make it a smooth process so as to ensure optimal liquidity for your business.

  1. Set goals and standards: Before you roll out a new system, it is important that you define your expected outcomes first. The key is to set up your terms and conditions in an appropriate manner. You should clearly spell out your billing duration, which is whether you charge on an hourly basis, daily basis or on a project basis. Further, it should also be clarified whether you accept lump sum payments or staggered payments. If there is any escalation clause for the extension of the project, then it should also be mentioned right in the beginning. You should also ensure that the billing system is designed in such a manner so that it is adaptable to changes in the variables.

 

  1. Make it a team effort: Deployment of a new automated billing system should be a team effort, as in, it should involve different departments of your business. Apparently, the billing system may seem to be the responsibility of the sales and accounts department, but it requires input from other departments too, to make the system all encompassing. Incorporating requirements from different departments will ensure that the system does not lack in any regard. Also, the clients will be able to use this system in a more comprehensive manner. You may also take recommendations from your clients so as to increase the utility of your system.

 

  1. Focus on key deliverables: While a system is required to work in the best possible manner on all fronts, it is important to identify some key variables. For some businesses, the speed of the system may be of paramount importance, while for others, the robustness of the system may be a key factor. Before you start to change your billing system, you should identify critical areas for your business and then work around them to ensure that your new system is able to meet your requirements. Focus on key deliverables to make your billing system more cost-efficient as well, so that you do not end up spending a fortune on the features which are not vital for your business.

 

  1. Pay attention to backup and storage: While setting up an automated billing system, it is important that you pay proper attention to offering backups. Automated systems, irrespective of their robustness, are prone to occasional infrastructural failures. In such cases, it is important to have a backup system so that the business is carried out smoothly, without any hiccup. Breakdowns may occur due to intrinsic or extrinsic reasons. However, in both the cases, the existence of backup ensures that the impact of such breakdown is minimized. Further, it should also be ensured that all the records are stored properly so that there is no loss of vital information.

 

  1. Test run and modify: Even the most elaborately planned automated billing systems may run into issues when deployed. Before you introduce your new system on a mass scale, it is important that you take it for a test run. A dry run is important to figure out if there are any loopholes or flaws in the system. Such shortcomings should be properly addressed before the system is formally deployed. You may also undertake beta testing of the system and invite some of the end users to try it. Their feedback may be used for incorporating changes and for fixing the flaws. You should undertake proper documentation at this stage so that all the loopholes are properly fixed.

An automated billing system can go a long way in making a business more efficient and productive. By following these simple guidelines, you can ensure that you have a robust billing system in place and the transition is handled in the smoothest possible manner.

4 years ago