Everything is getting digital, right? From the shopping we love to the assignments we do, the internet is the basic medium. With the internet taking over every possible area, trade and commerce don’t remain untouched. In fact, the internet has changed the course of trade in the present context. People are shifting their traditional business to online business. eCommerce is the most practiced as well as the fruitful form of commerce in many parts of the world including Nepal. Since you’re reading this article, it’s pretty much sure that you either run eCommerce, plan to engage in eCommerce in the near future or you’ve got a keen interest in eCommerce. Online payment methods are getting popular these days. Since eCommerce is an online form of commerce, online payment methods are obviously the innate part of eCommerce.
So, why is online payment options really significant for the online store? From the directly visible benefits to the hidden values, we have listed the major reason behind the importance of the online payment options in an online store:
1. Secure Payment Process
Carrying cash on the bag and proceeding to pay for something is much of a tiresome and task, right? Fear of theft and loss of money is pretty much common in physical payment whereas online payment saves us from all the fearful possibilities. The online payment processes are secure to carry on in many ways. Firstly, the payment process is free of any theft, loss, or fraud. Secondly, the whole payment process is supported by the strong evidence of the payment statement. Thus, the customers feel secure while using the method of online payment.
2. Instant Response and Acceptance
Electronic payment is a matter of just a few minutes. Whilst physical payment takes a lot of time to reviewed and accepted, the online payment process gives instant response and accepts the payment within a few moments. When an online store accepts online payment methods, it ensures reliability and faster service. Online payment methods help online stores to be more prompt and responsive in their payment process. Through, SMS and Emails, the customers are instantly notified about the transactions when they make payment through an online medium. This surely helps the online store to stand out!
3. The Larger Horizon of Customers
The most important benefit of the internet in any field is that it provides unlimited access. Similarly, electronic payment methods help the online store to accept payment from customers anywhere around the world. Let’s suppose the customer is in Jhapa but you’re the store in Kathmandu. The customer orders from your store. You’ve got the courier company ready to deliver the product. But what about the payment? How will you receive the payment? With the presence of an online payment method, you don’t need to worry about that. You can instantly receive the payment. Therefore, with the online payment method, you can serve customers who are far from your physical horizon of service.
4. Quality Customer Experience
Indeed the electronic payment method helps the customers to have a quality experience shopping with you. Various reliable features of the online payment methods like an instant response, secure payment, quicker processes, and many more facilitate the customers to make their shopping smooth and tension-free. The most important part of the shopping i.e. payment is made easier and faster by the electronic payment system. Thus, payment methods that use the internet increase the quality of customer service resulting in a quality customer experience. Customer experience is the key that decides the future of any store.
5. A platform for Marketing Opportunities
Electronic payment portfolios aren’t just the method for payment. They are the platforms that create marketing opportunities too. Affiliate marketing is possible through the electronic payment method in two ways. Either you can promote the particular online payment site in your online store’s site by taking the commission or you can let the online payment sites promote your online store for better reach. Both ways can be beneficial for your online store. If the electronic payment site that’s widely in use promotes your online store, the customers’ reach, as well as sales, can surely increase.
6. Time and Energy Saving
If the customer has to pay you through bank deposit, the time and energy required in bank processes are huge and tiring. On the other hand, if the customer prefers Cash on Delivery, your online store needs to send the staff to collect the cash and prepare the receipt card. Both of these possibilities need a lot of time and energy. But, with the payment methods that use the internet, neither the customers need to yawn thinking about the long queue in the bank nor you’ve to worry about preparing the receipt card. Everything is done digitally saving valuable time and energy.
7. Finally, Lowers risk of Communicable Infections
At last but not least, the COVID-19 pandemic has made it mandatory to think about the transmission of viruses and infections. Online payments are cashless and digital. Moreover, there is no physical contact if the electronic medium of payment is used. This surely decreases the risk of transmission of not only the SARS CoV-2 but also hundreds of communicable infections. Going digital and using the internet to receive any payment from the customers can save you from getting infected. It’s not that the electronic payment method eliminates the risk of infections, it surely lowers the risk by lowering the physical contact.
Online payment systems are beneficial for online businesses as well as customers in many ways. With everything getting digital, payment systems need to be electronic too since the contributions of electronic payment methods are awesome.
