How can I take payments from my customers?

Over the past few months, many businesses have been planning expanding their online presence. Good websites are not just about website design, they have to serve a purpose. For many, it is key to be able to take payments from their customers in a COVID safe way. Online shopping therefore has become a key factor, but there are many different ways to go about taking payments from your customers, and often it depends on your industry and approach.

Ecommerce

When we talk about ecommerce, we are thinking about an online shop. This could be the evolution of a current store on a web platform like eBay or Etsy, or an exclusive boutique experience. Ecommerce excels when your site has fixed products for sale, at a fixed price point. The site needs to be easy for your customers to explore, find the items they are interested in, select any variations such as different sizes or colours, place the product in a basket and proceed to checkout. Here the customer will fill out their shipping details and process the payment through a payment gateway such as PayPal, or through a Credit or Debit Card transaction and wait for their product to arrive.

An ecommerce website doesn’t have to sell physical items, the product in question could be a downloadable document or eBook, or perhaps a deposit for a high value item such as a car or property.

The manager of the site will need to keep track of orders to be shipped and ensuring that stock levels are kept in sync with any sales made offline in a physical shop. A fully fledged ecommerce platform would give you all the tools to manage the backend of your online shop with ease.

PayPal Links

There are times where a fully ecommerce site, would not be the ideal fit. Service based websites need to rethink their approach based on how their business works. A simple solution is to integrate a payment link direct to PayPal. These links could be created for different, fixed amounts, and could be good for booking courses or classes. Perhaps a tutor would have price options for 30 minutes, an hour and 2 hours, or a personal trainer that offers different pricing depending on how many weeks are paid for at once. 

Booking systems

There are however, many booking platforms which can also accept payments from your customers. By tying in payment and a calendar-based system, you can more easily ensure there are no double bookings, and your customers can easily see which days are available. For larger classes or events, some systems can utilise a ticketing system, to ensure that only a certain number of people will be able to place an order, which could be key in ensuring social distancing rules are followed. For hotels and guest houses, a booking system that can tie in with any hotel directory sites would be a useful route for your customers, but also easy for you to manage.

Are online payments right for me?

Taking payments online, be it for products or services only really works when there is a fixed price. For a business offering a bespoke package where the price could change beyond a few predetermined variations, online payments are likely to be difficult to build into your website and clunky for your customers to use. There are also times, where a personalised contact, not only allows for a case by case pricing plan, but might also create a better relationship with your customers and create a closer relationship or increase the chance of making a payment. In these cases, a simple enquiry form, phone number or online chat tool could be the key in making your website work for your business.

No matter what may suit you best, its essential that you get the right functionality, to work seamlessly with your unique style and create a website that is easy for your customers to navigate. Need some help deciding how to take your business to the next step and take payments online? Get in touch and our team will be more than happy to help.