The e-commerce industry in India has been on an upward growth curve as more and more shoppers prefer buying online rather than visiting the brick and mortar stores. While newer stores offer their customers a smooth shopping experience, the existing businesses are also continuously ramping up their systems and processes.
India’s Internet user base is expected to touch 900 million by 2025, which will lead to multifold growth in online shopping, according to a report by MMA India and GroupM.
Transactions are a crucial part of the entire shopping journey for merchants and buyers alike. Long checkout processes or failed payments can turn away even a loyal customer base. On the other hand, it is of utmost priority for any merchant to ensure that payments are transferred to them hassle-free and on time.
A payment gateway plays an important role in the success of transactions. A robust payment gateway not just takes care of transferring the payment from the buyer to the seller but also covers many other essential aspects that make the complicated process easy and safe.
What is payment gateway for online stores
To put it briefly, a payment gateway for online stores is a tool to enable transactions and transfer money from the customer’s account to the merchant’s bank.
While online businesses pay particular attention to their website in terms of the user experience, content, branding, etc, selecting the right payment gateway also adds to the customer experience.
A payment gateway for e-commerce stores helps your customer effortlessly navigate through the checkout process for a smooth payment experience. It manages the many complex steps starting from payment initiation by the customer to its settlement in your account.
For any online store, the presence of a robust and reliable payment gateway is a must as online shopping continues to penetrate across the country.
Selecting the right payment gateway for online store
There are many payment gateway options available in the market, but some are better than others because of the vital features that they offer. Here is a list of questions to help you choose the best one for your store.
1. Does it offer quick settlements?
Did you know that the delay in settlement time can go up to as much as 6 days after the transaction even when most payment gateways promise a T+2 settlement? Bank holidays, long weekends, and other breaks postpone the settlements and cause capital issues for merchants.
Choose a payment gateway that sticks to its settlement claim irrespective of public holidays. Merchants should also be able to opt for same-day or real-time settlements if their business is in urgent need of capital.
With T+1 settlements, Paytm Payment Gateway ensures that settlements happen on the very next day of the transactions, all 365 days a year.
2. Is it safe and secure?
Most online transactions require the buyer to enter card details and other sensitive information while making a payment. It is the business’s responsibility to safeguard this information and build the customer’s trust in the website.
A safe and secure payment gateway is important for keeping away from frauds and data breaches. PCI compliance is particularly essential in setting security standards and should be checked while choosing a payment gateway. Similarly, tokenisation offers an extra layer of safety as it protects the buyer’s card data.
Paytm Payment Gateway’s anti-fraud technology keeps your business safe and PCI-DSS compliant with 128-bit encryption.
3. Can it integrate with your platform?
When a merchant decides to integrate a payment gateway with the e-commerce platform, they may discover that there are some missing features and functionalities that may be required to ensure that there is no manual work or a compromised user experience.
Zero in on a payment gateway that can be easily integrated even with limited assistance and is compatible with your e-commerce platform. Many of them give detailed instructions and continuous assistance during as well as after the setup.
Paytm Payment Gateway offers 100% online onboarding with strong APIs and custom SDKs to help businesses open their online store instantly.
4. Does it allow international payments?
A very valid question for online stores of every size and scale, mainly because the internet has made it quite possible to trade in every corner of the world. Most merchants want to eventually reach a global audience to explore and open up to new markets and revenue streams for their business.
Even if your business is limited to a domestic audience at the moment, choose a payment gateway that supports multi-currency payments to be prepared when you expand your business. Your customers should be able to pay in their local currencies while you have access to real-time conversions.
Paytm Payment Gateway lets merchants accept payments in 100+ currencies without the need for separate API integration.
5. Does it offer multiple payment sources?
Nowadays, online payments are not just limited to credit and debit cards. Customers have the options to pay through various digital wallets, UPI, or directly from their bank through net banking.
The payment gateway you choose should cover most payment sources and give your customers the flexibility to choose their payment mode. This will also ensure a decrease in your cart abandonment rates since the buyers will have their preferred option of payment to choose from.
Paytm Payment Gateway offers maximum payment options to buyers along with the options of Paytm Wallet as well as Paytm Postpaid.
Conclusion
Now that you are aware of the important factors to review when finalising a payment gateway for an online store, you can conduct thorough research to decide what best suits your business specifics.
Paytm Payment Gateway, used by some of the biggest e-commerce companies, offers all the suitable features for an online store along with a dedicated support team for better clarification and insights.
