When you are running an ecommerce store, there are many things you need to look after but the most prominent element out of these involves deciding on the ideal eCommerce payment gateway. Many individuals struggle with this question a lot and honestly, you are not to be blamed. Payment gateways and online payments in general can be quite frightening in their own right but that doesn’t mean you need to steer clear from it and put it off for the last minute until you have no time and then pick the first ideal payment gateway you see. This means you need to get your basics about this right and then make an informed decision.
Here are a few of these basics you need to know about if you want to make sure you are picking the best one for your online business.
What exactly is a payment gateway?
Many online business newcomers play with this question never really knowing what it actually means. Basically speaking, an eCommerce payment gateway is a middleman between your online store and the payment processor that obtains the payment from your customer. So once a customer puts in their payment details onto your site, the payment gateway handles sending the data securely to the payment processor.
The workings of a payment gateway
Although as an e-commerce store owner, you don’t really need to know how a payment gateway functions nut just to give you a general idea:
• Once the customer puts out an order, checks out and enters payment details, the payment gateway takes the payment information
• It then proceeds to encrypt the information and send it through a secure channel to the payment processor
• After the customer is redirected to the payment processor, it goes through the steps that finalize the payment
• When the processor verifies the payment and puts out the required message to the customer, the customer can return to the online store
Removing all of the fancy layers, the payment gateway simply takes the customer’s personal information and transmits it through a secure channel to the payment processor.
Rounding up on the ideal payment gateway
You need to ask yourself a few questions before you pick the best payment gateway that works seamlessly for your online store. To succeed at this, here is what you need to ask yourself:
• Do you want your customers to directly enter their payment details on your site?
• Is the gateway supported by your e-commerce platform?
• What are the kind of fees that are acceptable?
• Does the provider come with a good reputation and customer satisfaction?
• Does the payment gateway support the payment methods your target market generally uses?
• Are you looking to use more than one payment gateway?
• For how long a duration do you need to commit to your chosen payment gateway?
Have all of these clarifications sorted before you begin looking for a payment gateway for your eCommerce store.
Considering all of these things and factors before going in for an eCommerce payment gateway ensures you get the best one that actually benefits your store successfully.
