Last editedJun 20241 min read
The Brits are the biggest online shoppers in the developed world with almost 2/3 of adults using the internet to buy goods or services. Despite this, UK businesses have been rather slow when it comes to embracing the internet and, more specifically, online payments. In fact, while more than 70% of UK businesses now have a website, less than 40% of these can take online payments.
Here are our top three reasons your business should accept online payments:
1. UK customers love online payments
Customers want to pay for goods and services online. A recent study found that 99% of UK consumers use the internet to buy goods or services - almost 3/4 of us (73%) do so at least once a month, while nearly one in four (24%) do so every week.
With so many potential customers online, can you afford to not offer online payments?
2. Online payments save you money
According to Finextra, the cost of using traditional or paper-based billing (postage, printing, storage, admin etc.) is around 9.5% of the amount collected. Accepting online payments helps you to eliminate these costs – savings which you can then pass on to your customers, making them even happier and more likely to come back.
3. Online payments save you time
Online payments are more efficient than traditional billing methods. Not only does it save you from wasting time chasing payments but it also lets you easily set up recurring billing for your customers. Automatically billing your customers for services instead of manually tracking and processing payments each month saves you time and makes paying even easier for your customer.
Remember:Â the easier you can make it for your customers to pay you, the more likely they are to keep on paying you.
If accepting online payments is something you'd like to do, check out our guide to Direct Debit to find out if that might be the option for you. Already successfully collecting online payments? Share your story and continue the conversation on Twitter.
