eCommerce refers to buying and selling goods and services via the internet. It involves the transfer of funds and data to complete the transactions. The increasing number of e-Commerce businesses creates a need to offer payment flexibility to the customers. Flexible payment options will attract and retain customers, and it also helps in getting payment in good time.
Another important aspect of e-Commerce is customer financing. It is to ensure browsers turn into buyers. It is targeted at encouraging potential buyers to buy goods and services as they browse. Most of them are deterred from buying because of the upfront payment, and that is why they need financing to help them access the goods they need.
Financing offers potential customers an option to enroll in a payment plan to access the goods they need and pay for them in full at a later stage. They are expected to pay in affordable payment monthly installments other than paying everything at once. This benefits businesses by making them make more sales and more often and build customer loyalty.
Merchant Payment
A merchant is a person or company that sells goods and services. An e-Commerce merchant refers to anyone who sells goods or services exclusively on the internet. Merchants must operate a merchant account, not a bank account where they accept payments.
Merchant services companies provide various businesses and individuals with the tools they need to allow for different forms of merchant payments. They include credit cards and debit cards, and other electronic payments. The buyers use those options to transact online and buy the goods they need.
Different Types Of Payment Options That Merchants Offer
Merchants offer their clients various options to pay for their online transactions, as described here.
Electronic Payments
Electronic cash transfer is a paperless electronic money transfer from one bank account to another. You can move the money without involving the bank employees.
Mobile Payment
Mobile payment includes several phone methods to make payment for your transaction. A mobile user can use their phones to pay for their transactions using either PayPal or any other form.
Credit Cards
Credit cards or Debit cards are payment methods that use merchant accounts that accept payment using any two cards. The retailer, the merchant bank, and a payment processor agree on settling the card transactions.
Checks
Checks are forms of payment using bank checks. The bank checks have to be verified before the transaction can occur through the validation of the bank account information.
Cash
Cash payments are the most straightforward form of transaction. There is nothing else involved other than paying the money for the goods and services you need.
Whether big or small, every e-Commerce business needs to think of financing its customers. There are different financing options that they can offer their customers. Offering customers financing options helps them to increase their purchases. There are several ways in which business can finance their customers to improve their ability to buy goods. They give them the option of paying the bank the funded amount.
Buy Now Pay Later
There are several options that online stores offer their clients to access goods online. The first one is buy now pay later options where you can access goods online, pay the deposit that you have, and pay the rest in small equal installments over a predetermined amount of time. It is a flexible way of accessing money to buy the goods and services you need without depleting your budget. Buy now pay later options from reputable companies like ChargeAfter.com enables you to put the financing power back into the hands of your shoppers.
Consumer Financing
Also, businesses offer financing to their customers with support from a financial company. It allows customers to pay for goods and services they cannot pay at the moment. It is an arrangement that benefits both the customers and the businesses.
Online Financing
Various businesses offer online financing through mobile loans. The customer applies for the loans they need and wait for the lenders to send the loan on their mobile phones.
Point of Sale
Many people have turned to online purchasing for almost anything. Sometimes the customers do not have enough funds to pay for what they have. The online stores offer online financing at the point of sale. It enables the customers to obtain a loan to buy what they want and pay later.
Cart Financing
When they are shopping online, many people abandon the cart for lack of enough finances to pay for what they want. At that point, the online store can offer the customer the option of getting a finance loan to pay for what they have already put in the cart.
All these options are meant to help the customers shop more online and obtain financing when they need to buy more than their money. It makes shopping online interesting for most shoppers. It makes the customers happy and loyal while the stores end up selling more.