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Why You Should Have Online Payment Solutions in Your Business

Online payment solutions let merchants accept card-not-present transactions, credit and debit payments made through an online marketplace, with funds reaching the bank account within one or two business days. They enable international sales with prices shown in the customer's preferred currency, real-time checkout, and flexible payment modes that increase overall sales.

4 min read · RapidCents Editorial Team

Published 2020-12-12 · Last reviewed 2020-12-12

Rails of clothing on display in a retail store

Scope: For merchants moving from offline stores to online selling who want to understand what online payment solutions add to their business.

Why Offline-Only Businesses Are Struggling

Online payment solutions are leading online business forward. Even in this technologically advanced era, many people still use old business methods, but consumers nowadays favour online marketplaces, and merchants with only offline stores face a difficult situation. COVID-19 made the situation harder still: consumers use debit cards and credit cards to shop online and strictly avoid crowded areas. As a result, merchants conducting business offline have experienced a collapse in cash flow, and their customer base has shrunk. Merchants are looking for an alternative way to continue their business, and technology has a solution for them.

The Advantages of Selling Through an Online Marketplace

The online marketplace is something through which you can sell goods without opening your offline store. It adds stability and flexibility to your business, and the opportunity to reach more customers increases. There are several advantages you gain after opting into the online marketplace:

• The online marketplace gives you an extra channel from which to sell your products.

• Marketing costs are comparatively lower than offline marketing, and customers pay online.

• If you want to grow your business, it is an ideal platform: you can do business overseas, enhancing your overall customer base and cash flow.

• If you are honest with your customers and deliver satisfactory service, you can ask for reviews and add them to your online store, attracting more customers.

• The online marketplace also lets you build strong partnerships with suppliers and traders, and provides greater transparency.

What Online Payment Solutions Do

Online payment solutions can elevate your online marketplace to a different level. No matter how good your products are, if your online business platform does not have proper online payment options, you will not be able to grow. Online payment solutions allow online merchants to accept payments online, including all forms of card payments such as transactions made by credit cards and debit cards.

Online payment solutions are quite different from offline payment terminals. Efficient offline terminals - debit card machines, POS, and credit card machines - only support card-present transactions. With online payment solutions, your business can easily accept online, card-not-present transactions. You just need an online marketplace and a merchant account, and after that, you get access to online payment solutions through a merchant processor.

How Online Payment Solutions Grow Your Business

In the 21st century, running an online marketplace without pairing it with online payment solutions is a big mistake. It adds a lot of convenience to your business ecosystem.

Increasing the territory of the business is something every merchant wants, and the offline business ecosystem does not allow it. With an online marketplace paired with advanced online payment solutions, you can sell your products to different countries. Online payment solutions accept international payments, and you do not have to worry about collecting customers' payments: the money arrives in your bank account within one or two business days.

There is no doubt that offline transactions are time-consuming. If you accept cash from a foreign customer, you may have to explain currency differences, and communication problems can arise while returning change. Even a credit card payment through an offline terminal takes time. Such problems do not arise with online payment solutions: on the checkout page, customers see the price of the product in their own preferred currency, the process runs in real time, and the overall transaction becomes far less time-consuming.

Merchants can also offer flexible payment modes to customers through online payment solutions, making the online marketplace more approachable. Customers pay using their preferred payment methods, which increases the overall sales of the business.

Frequently asked questions

What are online payment solutions?

Online payment solutions let merchants accept payments made over the internet, including credit and debit card transactions, through their online store or marketplace. They handle card-not-present transactions that offline payment terminals cannot process.

How are online payment solutions different from a payment terminal?

Offline terminals such as debit card machines, POS systems, and credit card machines only support card-present transactions where the customer physically presents the card. Online payment solutions accept card-not-present transactions made remotely through a checkout page.

Can online payment solutions accept international payments?

Yes. Online payment solutions accept international payments and display prices in the customer's preferred currency at checkout. Funds typically arrive in the merchant's bank account within one or two business days.

What do I need to start accepting payments online?

You need an online marketplace or store and a merchant account with a payment processor that offers online payment solutions. Once the account is set up, you gain access to online payment acceptance without programming knowledge.