“It’s not the strongest species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the most responsive to change.” – Charles Darwin
In the context of the Indian business ecosystem, things have changed and grown considerably in the last few decades. You could easily hear about massive developments taking place in businesses and how they operate.
If you dive deeper into its niceties, you will find two aspects that have grown parallelly – one is the number of startups in the country while the other is digital payments. The total number of recognised startups, including the newly established ones and unicorn startups, rose to 72,993 as of June 2022 (Source). On the other hand, India’s digital payment market is expected to triple from $3 trillion to $10 trillion by 2026 (BCG report).
Like starting a startup venture, online payment acceptance has never been as easy as it is today and has become an integral part of the business cycles. If you want to build a startup idea forward toward the initial stages, now is a great time to do so along with embracing digital payments for startups.
Before you do so, you might want to ask if you can steer off the possible startup roadblocks with the right payment solutions by your side. Let us take you through various sides of the online payment sphere encompassing a startup business.
How does the payment flow when accepted digitally?
Irrespective of what you sell under your startup roof, you eventually want to get paid. In layman terms, the journey of payment takes the route from the customer’s card or bank account to the business’s bank account.
In other words, when a customer pays for what you sell online, the money reaches you digitally. However, the process isn’t as straightforward as this. There are multiple parties or stakeholders involved, including:
- Customers buying your goods or services
- Startup owner or merchant (you) who supplies the goods/services and want to get paid
- Issuing bank or issuer that provides payment facility or cards to the customer
- Acquiring bank or acquirer that processes payments on your behalf and deposits the same into your merchant account
- Card associations such as MasterCard, VISA, American Express, RuPay, etc.
Payment flows among all these parties to ensure that the transaction is processed and you will get the funds at the end of the day.
Why should you care about the payment side of your startup?
The ecosystem of digital payments in India is ever-changing. On one side, there are consumer demands for digitally-led payment solutions to be available for whatever they buy. On the other hand, there is a wide range of payment options and new fintech players entering the market. This combination may make it challenging for you to find a comprehensive payment solution provider that best compliments your startup’s needs.
Before you zero in on the solutions, it is crucial to know the basic lay of the land to start accepting payments both online and offline and consider a few related trends.
Insights and trends that matter for startups
- Global e-retail sales crossed the mark of USD 5.2 trillion in 2021 and are only expected to reach greater heights in the time ahead.
- Smartphones accounted for more than 70% of all retail website visits globally.
- Consumers use multiple channels and expect businesses to provide what they want, where, and when they want to buy it.
- 9% of users abandon carts as not all payment methods were available to choose from. Also, the cart abandonment rate in the APAC region stands at 76.3%.
Wondering if payment success or failure would affect the growth of your startup business? Continue reading.
What do these numbers mean for your startup?
Eventually, the growth of your startup depends on how well the business idea solves the problem and to what extent it is accepted among the masses. Here, the importance of the payment process, being a crucial part of business acceptance, cannot be undermined. Consider this example –
A customer loves your startup idea and wants to buy your products. After browsing through the inventory, he adds several products to the shopping cart and proceeds to checkout. Unfortunately, he couldn’t complete the payment as his preferred payment method was not available on the list.
This can happen to almost every business, be it small or large, leaving a significant consumer base unserved. All you need to encompass these consumers and turn them into loyal customers is a seamless payment process that includes most of the popular payment methods available (not to mention that the quality of your product/services matters even more).
Offline, online, remote, and more – simplify payments at every stage
You can start accepting digital payments through distinct ways for every face of your startup –
QR codes and POS machines for offline stores
If your business involves selling products or services through local brand stores/outlets in multiple cities, you can get static or dynamic QR codes for easy payment acceptance. Similarly, you can also obtain a POS machine for each of your stores and link them all to your merchant account. Each time a customer walks into your store, he/she can simply pay you by either scanning a QR code or tapping a credit/debit card on the POS machine.
Payment links for remote payment collection
If your product/services involve visiting the end consumers in person to deliver what is being purchased, providing a POS machine to every delivery agent might not be feasible. This is where you can benefit from payment links. Whenever a product/service is delivered, the delivery agent or service executive can simply create and share a payment link with the customer. On the other hand, the customer can click on the link and pay via any of the listed payment methods.
Payment gateway to collect online payments via a website or app
If your startup sells products/services online and requires payments to be made by the customer prior to accepting an order, payment gateway integration is a must. Whether you want to sell via a website or app, integrating the right payment gateway enables you to accept payment through several payment options (cards, UPI, net banking, and even digital payment wallets).
You can further benefit from extending bank or brand offers to your customers as supported by your payment gateway.
Switch to Paytm for Business for their comprehensive payment suite for startups
Procuring different types of payment solutions may seem like a daunting task. However, it is quite easy and hassle-free when you choose Paytm for Business for all your startup payment needs. Paytm QR, Payment Payment Links, and Paytm Payment Gateway, you can avail of our different payment products for your business benefits.
That’s not all as you can leverage the power of Paytm Mini app, Paytm Ads, and Paytm banking instruments for the better.
