As you probably already know, we at J&P specialize in helping ecommerce sellers expand their business. Whilst we primarily do this through tax services and logistics support, our long history of working alongside ecommerce means we can also offer you advice on other aspects of your business. One such aspect is your payment methods. The way in which you allow your customer to pay can be the difference between making a sale and losing a customer. This article will give you some tips on what your customers expect from your payment methods, which will almost certainly improve your ecommerce business.
If You Are A Cross-Border Ecommerce Business, Know Your Market
A typical mistake ecommerce sellers make is treating consumers from different countries the same. Each country has different tastes and needs when it comes to products. The same applies to payment methods.
For example, in the Netherlands (one of the best ecommerce destinations in Europe) use the payment service provider iDeal to make the majority of their online purchases. Others, such as the UK and Italy prefer PayPal. In some countries, such as Russia, it is quite common for deliveries to be paid for in cash upon arrival.
Ensure before expanding into a country that you have done research into what payment method their consumers like best. This also applies to which device they use, which brings us nicely on to…
Ensure Your Ecommerce Business Is Mobile Friendly
Mobile shopping and payments is a trend that has been growing for some time, but it has been accelerated further since the coronavirus outbreak. Since the lockdowns we are spending more and more time on our phones, and this is already having a knock-on effect for ecommerce.
It is thought that France saw the amount of mobile payments increase by 38% in 2020. The Netherlands saw a similar increase, reports showing that over 70% of the payments made using iDeal were made using a mobile phone.
It is imperative that you make your ecommerce business usable online. The fact that online cart abandonment stands at over 85% on mobile shows that consumers are being put-off by clunky check out processes. When it comes to adopting your business for new technologies, mobile phones are just the tip of the iceberg.
Embrace New Technology
Whilst this can sometimes be daunting, incorporating new technology into your ecommerce business can really set you apart from your competitors. Perhaps the easiest way to do this is by allowing buy-now-pay-later payments. Klarna was the company that made this payment method mainstream, but now Paypal offer a similar service.
If you are feeling more adventurous, experts are speculating that QR code payments are likely to really grow in popularity. It is thought that Paypal has a new merchant adopting the payment method every 38 seconds. This a low-cost contactless payment method to offer your customers.
Cryptocurrency is another really on-trend payment method. To be fair, there is still perhaps a little while yet before this currency becomes mainstream, but with its massive increase in popularity of the last year, it wouldn’t hurt to be early in adapting to incorporate this trend.
Check Your Payment Method Is Compatible With Your Market Place
If you read our article on ecommerce trends for 2021, you’ll remember that we really stressed the importance of adopting a omni-channel business model for ecommerce. One of the best ways to do this is through Online Market Places such as Amazon and eBay.
You have to be careful though when doing so that your payment methods are compatible and allowed by the marketplace. Amazon have their Payment Service Provider Program which only allows you to use approved payment service providers. Similarly, if you are selling on eBay you must ensure that your payment method is acceptable on their managed payments scheme.
Conclusion – If You Are An Ecommerce Seller, Adapt
Hopefully the above tips have gotten you thinking of ways to improve your ecommerce business. The options for payment method is certainly a factor for consumers when it comes to deciding who to purchase a product from, so ensure you make it easy for a customer to buy from you by ensuring your payment methods are up to date.
At J&P, helping ecommerce sellers is our speciality. We can help you expand your business all over the globe, through VAT registration and filing your returns.
Don’t forget, we have the qualifications and knowledge to help you plan ahead, so please do not hesitate to get in touch should you have any further questions about selling on online marketplaces, or if you need any help with adapting your business to comply with the new post-Brexit legislation and the upcoming OSS. You can contact us at enquiries@jpaccountant.com, on our social media, or give us a call on 0161 637 1080.
