Maggie Evans 
If you have an e-commerce website, you need to accept payments on your online store to start earning revenue. Ideally, you should offer several payment options to make the process convenient for you and the customer. For example, several payment options allow the customer to pay for large purchases online rather than cash or cheque, which is inconvenient for many.
Some ecommerce payment options are more popular than others, while others work better with certain e-commerce websites than others. In this article, you will find some popular options and the factors you should consider while choosing a payment method.
How to choose a payment method?
When deciding what payment options to offer on your e-commerce store, consider your customers’ wants. There’s no one-size-fits-all answer to this question — it depends on many factors, including your target audience and the nature of your business.
- Easy to use
Choose a payment option that is easy to use. The easier it is for the customer to make a purchase, the more likely they will do so. This means choosing a payment method with low barriers of entry over those with high obstacles.
It also means providing instructions on how best each available option works — for example, when aggregating multiple payments into one transaction using Stripe Connect (which allows users to collect funds from various sources in one go).
- Secure
Choose a secure payment option. Customers will generally trust an e-commerce store more if its site uses HTTPS rather than HTTP protocols. Sites using HTTPS appear less vulnerable because they encrypt data before sending information between browsers and servers.
- Convenient
The payment method should be convenient for your customers. If it doesn’t, then no matter how cheap or convenient it may be for you, they won’t use it!
What are some popular payment methods?
PayPal
It is a famous payment gateway for e-commerce sites. It offers a variety of payment options, including credit card payments and bank account transfers.
PayPal also has fraud protection measures to protect you if your customers make unauthorized purchases on your site. Another benefit of using PayPal is that it’s easy to set up and use; you can start accepting payments immediately without any prior technical knowledge or experience.
It also offers some other great features for e-commerce stores, such as free shipping labels, free returns, and a “buyer protection” plan, which will reimburse you if someone makes an unauthorized purchase.
Square
Square is a payment processing company that provides an easy way for your customers to pay with their mobile device or web browser. It’s a suitable option for small businesses since you can set up your account quickly and accept payments without equipment or fees.
Stripe
Stripe is a payment processing company that offers simple integration with your website and apps. Stripe has some of the lowest transaction fees, at 2.9% + 30 cents per transaction. The company also offers an easy-to-use API so that you can integrate it into your website or app without technical knowledge or programming skills.
Your e-commerce payment options will ultimately depend on what your customers want and need. Before choosing one, you must research the different payment options available so that you can choose the one most suited to your business needs and customer preferences.
