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There's nothing more frustrating when shopping online than spending a good amount of time picking out just the right present, gadget, or whatever it is you're shopping for only to find the business doesn't accept credit cards, debit cards, Paypal, or whatever form of payment you are trying to use. There's enough competition out there without shooting yourself in the foot by not accepting the most common forms of payment. After all, you're asking your customers to part with their hard earned money; the least you can do is make it easy for them to do so.
Credit cards and debit cards are among the most popular types of payment used online. To accept these forms of payments you'll either need to open a merchant account with a bank or use a third party merchant company to process these payments for you. You'll have to pay this company a percentage of each transaction; however, deciding not to accept these forms of payments could cost you big time in lost sales.
Some online merchants still accept checks and money orders and many accept e-check payments, which are taken directly from the purchaser's bank account. If you do decide to accept checks and money orders you'll want to make sure the payment clears before you ship the product to your customer. Make sure you highlight this in the terms and conditions so there will be no surprises.
Safety First
Do take the time, effort, and expense necessary to make your website a secure place for customers to conduct transactions. After you do so, note the security measures your site takes so that your customers will feel secure doing business on your website. If you decide to outsource your payment processing do your homework and make sure you are dealing with a reputable company that uses state of the art security methods. With the subject of identity theft in the headlines on a regular basis, you need to take all the precautions you can to ensure your customers' safety.
Some people, regardless of how safe a website is simply will not give out their credit card number and other billing information online. Be prepared for this and be prepared for an alternate way for these customers to still pay using their credit cards. Can they phone their order in? Fax it? Mail it? By anticipating the needs of your customers and being ready to serve those needs, you will go a long way toward building customer loyalty.
While you're thinking about payment methods also think about whether or not you will be able to service international customers. Not all businesses do but if you are not able to conduct business internationally, do reveal this in a prominent place on your website so no one will waste their time selecting their purchases only to discover they are unable to make a purchase after all.
If you're selling a product that must be shipped, what forms of shipment will you offer? Again, will you be able to ship internationally? Will you ship to post office boxes? These are all questions you will need to answer long before you complete your first transaction. Whatever you decide, note your payment and shipping terms in an easy to find place on your website and offer your customers the utmost in security measures.
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