As a business owner, if you have convinced a customer to buy your products or services, you must have done a lot of things right. But this is not the right stage to celebrate prematurely. When the time to pay for a product comes, many customers leave stores without mentioning any reason.
This can be because of an array of factors like hidden charges, lack of trust in the brand, and more particularly, lack of online payment methods.
Clearly, you are leaving money on the table if you do not offer your customers multiple ways to make online payments. While you cannot escape the transaction fees involved in facilitating online payment solutions, you can do your best to ensure an engaging yet simplified customer experience.
Whether you run local retail stores or an e-commerce platform, there are various ways you can choose to start accepting payments from your customers online.
Before moving on to the list of methods you can use to accept online payments, let’s go through the need for the same.
Why should you start accepting online payments?
Sending and accepting online payments is more like a part of our daily lives these days. Making it a part of your business can offer more than just a way to receive payments from your customers, vendors, or other stakeholders. Here are some of the primary benefits of accepting online payments for your business:
Extended reach to your targeted audience
Digital payments in India is at its peak, with total transaction value made through mobile to be around 29.5tr INR as per statistics. No matter how small or big your business is, online payment acceptance gives you the power to expand your reach to the customers beyond geographical boundaries. It is much better than just making transactions in cash to sell products or services.
Easy to accept recurring payments
For small businesses that require recurring payments from the customers, cash has been the most preferred payment method. But with changing times, it is now possible to even accept recurring payments online.
If you sell a subscription-based service or visit your customers for a monthly fee, an online payment system can help you save time and automate the collection process.
Benefits of the current payment trends
Indians increasingly want to buy stuff online from the comfort of their homes. With 74% active e-commerce penetration in India, more and more buyers prefer online shopping over traditional local store shopping experience. Accepting online payments will help your business reap the benefit of the current trends and pave the way for its growth.
Brand building
Majority of customers – both online and offline, prefer buying stuff from brands which have invested in facilitating reliable and secure payment methods. In other words, you can build your brand value by allowing your customers to make online payments for purchases.
Ease of utilizing multiple payment methods
With online payments, you also enable your customers to make payments via different payment methods, including credit cards, debit cards, UPI, or net banking. This way, you can move beyond cash for business-related payments.
Most preferred ways to accept payments for your business
All-in-One QR code
With the rise in mobile payments in India, this is one of the most popular digital payment methods used by businesses of diverse scales. You can start accepting payment by just making an all-in-one QR code scanner available to your customers. They can pay you for the purchases through digital money wallets or UPI.
From the business point of view, you can benefit from single point reconciliation for all online payments received into your linked business account. Managing the account is quite easy as you can initiate bank settlements and refunds from a single dashboard.
To know more about Paytm All-in-One QR, click here.
All-in-One POS machines
You can consider an All-in-one POS machine as a terminal using which you can process payments via different payment methods. The term ‘All-in-One’ here implies you can accept payments from almost all payment sources, be it netbanking, UPI, debit cards, credit cards, or digital wallets. You can swipe the customers’ cards using this machine or allow them to scan dynamic QR code to accept online payments.
A crucial benefit of using an All-in-One POS machine is the instant settlement it facilitates, eliminating the need for batch settlements as in the past. Whether you run a restaurant, a retail outlet, or offer logistics services, it is easy to start accepting payments using an All-in-One POS card machine.
Payment links
Using payment links, you can start accepting online payments from your customers remotely. These links are best suited for businesses who do not want to invest in a mobile app or website. One of the most advantageous features of payment links is that you do not need to specify recipient or other details. You just need to create a link for a particular amount, share it via an email or message, and collect payments seamlessly.
You can also create payment links in bulk to accept online payment from multiple customers at once. Freelancers, doctors, schools, and coaching institutes, all of them use payment links to simplify the task of accepting payments.
Also Read: What Makes Payment Links The Fastest Way to Collect Payments in 2021?
Payment gateway
Using a payment gateway, you can start accepting payments on the website or mobile application related to your business. Their seamless integration makes it easier for businesses to accept online payments from the customers. You can accept online payments through a plethora of payment modes and enjoy instant bank settlement based on their PCI-DSS compliant technology.
With Paytm Payment Gateway, you can also benefit from offering single click checkout, EMI schemes, instant refunds, and extended bank offers to your customers. It is also available with zero setup/maintenance fees and competitive transaction fee for online payments.
Online payment FAQs
In how many ways can I accept online payments for my business?
You can accept online payments in various ways, some of which are payment gateway integration on your business website or app and use of payment links. For more details about the suitable way to accept payments digitally, contact our team and we will be happy to assist you in recommending the best solution for your business.
Is it possible to accept online payment without paying any fee?
The fee charged to offer diverse payment solutions varies from one service provider to another. However, you should also consider several other aspects, such as service quality, customer support, and ease of accepting online payments while selecting a payment solution.
How can I start accepting online payment on my business website?
To allow your customers to make online payments on your website, you need to integrate Paytm Payment Gateway. The integration process is quite easy and it does not take much time.
Which online payment gateway is the best one?
The selection of a payment gateway should be based on various parameters, including the ease of integration, security of payment transfer, number of payment modes supported, settlement process, and pricing. Paytm Payment Gateway fits well into all these parameters and is a top player in the PG market in India.
