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The Benefits of Multiple Payment Options for Businesses

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The GoCardless content team comprises a group of subject-matter experts in multiple fields from across GoCardless. The authors and reviewers work in the sales, marketing, legal, and finance departments. All have in-depth knowledge and experience in various aspects of payment scheme technology and the operating rules applicable to each. The team holds expertise in the well-established payment schemes such as UK Direct Debit, the European SEPA scheme, and the US ACH scheme, as well as in schemes operating in Scandinavia, Australia, and New Zealand. See full bio

Last editedApr 20232 min read

Online payment methods used to consist of credit cards and debit cards only, but the emergence of digital wallets such as PayPal have provided ecommerce businesses with a lot more options to offer their customers.

Integrating these different payment methods has now become crucial for businesses operating primarily online, as limited payment options are one reason why online shoppers abandon their carts without following through on a purchase.

This means that any ecommerce business not offering as many payment methods as possible risks failing to maximise their conversion rate. And while that might be the standout reason for providing multiple payment options, there are actually several other good reasons why every ecommerce business should consider it.

Let’s look at each reason in closer detail.

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Reasons to offer different payment methods

There are five main reasons why every online business should be considering letting the customer decide which is the best payment gateway for their ecommerce purchases. The reasons for providing a choice of checkout payment methods are:

Maximise conversions
Minimise abandoned carts
Appeal to wider demographic
Easy checkout for customers
Enhanced brand perception

Maximise conversions

The biggest reason for offering multiple payment options is that it will help maximise your conversion rate. If you have a customer who wants to do business with you after they visit your site and add a product to their cart, then the last thing you want to do is put them off by only allowing a limited choice of payment methods.

This point is, of course, intrinsically linked to the next entry on this list.

Minimise abandoned carts

If your business is experiencing a significant amount of abandoned carts, then a limited amount of online payment methods may be partly to blame.

There are other reasons why carts get abandoned, such as shipping fees bumping up the cost to the customer to higher than they are willing to pay, or window-shoppers adding items to a cart to remember them or just check what the shipping and payment options are without any real intention to follow through. But a lack of different payment methods contributes, primarily for the next reason on this list.

Appeal to wider demographic

Different types of consumers have different preferences for their favourite or best payment gateway. Some will prefer to pay with their debit card like they always have, while others will exclusively purchase items online via a digital wallet like PayPal.

You can’t always separate demographics via their chosen payment methods either, although younger shoppers are more likely to use digital wallets. It mostly comes down to habit, with many younger people still preferring credit or debit cards, and many older people fully on board for the digital revolution. It is much better for every business to maximise their chances of a conversion by providing for all the different customer preferences.

Easy checkout for customers

Providing multiple different payment methods also makes the checkout easy for your customers, as the best payment gateway for their own personal needs will be there waiting for them. They can click through as they please to purchase via a digital wallet, or enter their credit or debit card details as they prefer to do.

A hassle-free purchase improves the customer experience and thus will encourage them to return and buy again.

Enhanced brand perception

The last major benefit of offering various online payment methods is the credibility it lends to your business brand. When a customer sees multiple payment options on their checkout screen, it makes your website appear professional, trustworthy and secure.

Online payments methods

As well as credit cards, debit cards and the popular digital wallet PayPal, you can offer your customers still more payment methods. Google Pay is aiming to become PayPal’s big rival and is well on the way already, while Amazon Pay has the advantage of being immediately available for anyone already signed up with an Amazon account.

We Can Help

If you’re interested in finding out more about the best payment gateway and variety of online payment methods, or any other aspect of your business finances, then get in touch with our financial experts. Find out how GoCardless can help you with ad hoc payments or recurring payments.