Today, it’s possible to buy almost anything online, all with just a few clicks. And with super quick delivery, consumers barely have to wait anymore.
With Visa handling 29 million online payments every day, online shopping and online payments will only continue to grow. And with good reason.
Online payments present countless benefits to both merchants and buyers, offering an exceptionally smooth consumer experience that would have been unthinkable decades ago.
Here are just some of the incredible benefits of online payments.
1 – Speed of transactions
Online shopping has taken impulse buying to a new level.
Nowadays you don’t need to leave the sofa to instantly buy the latest gadget or clothing you’ve just seen on TV. Everything from electronics to the weekly shop is available at the click of the button.
The speed built into online purchases is one of the reasons they’ve exploded in popularity among customers.
It’s not even the case that the customer always needs to enter their card details to make a purchase.
With businesses able to offer 1-click purchases and next day delivery, online purchases provide a great way to generate new revenue – even just to supplement takings from a physical store.
2 – Convenience
Convenience is the name of the game when it comes to online purchases.
By selling online you might face more competition than a brick and mortar store on the High Street, but it’s highly convenient as a business.
Online shopping gives you access to a worldwide pool of customers who can buy from you anytime, anywhere.
There’s even no need for a business to have a physical location, if they don’t need one.
Online payments have offered many businesses the chance to take their services totally online, saving a fortune in business building costs, including rent and maintenance fees.
3 – Various online payment methods
Because customers have more choice than ever over who to buy from, they want to do everything on their own terms.
And this includes paying for goods and services.
Today, not only are customers able to pay with credit and debit cards, they have a whole host of other payment methods.
As a business, this also means you have many more ways to accept money from customers.
Whether they want to use their credit or debit card information, or use newer methods like digital wallets and electronic payments.
Digital wallets like Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay and others are growing in popularity every day and are already the preferred payment method for millions of customers globally, both in-person and online.
Recent data suggests the number of digital wallets being used worldwide will reach 4.8 billion by the year 2025, meaning digital wallet payments will account for a huge percentage of global online payments as a whole.
Businesses that accept these digital wallet payments are already ahead of the curve and can expect to see a boost in payments via these platforms heading into the future.
But online payments and digital payments are evolving all the time, with some businesses even accepting payments via cryptocurrency – something businesses should keep an eye on if the payment method continues to grow.
4 – Reaching a wider audience
Many of us remember a time when the success of local businesses was limited to their reach within their own communities.
But the explosion of international trade for smaller vendors, along with strides made in online payments, means almost anyone can make a sale with anyone else, anywhere in the world.
Through the power of online payments small businesses that begin as local companies have the potential to reach incredible heights internationally and soar well above their original expectations.
5 – Easy payment management
It’s good to keep track of your money. But businesses which process hundreds, thousands, and even millions of transactions a day need strong tools to keep all their numbers in line.
Thankfully, this is relatively easy with online payments, as all transaction information can be stored for easy access in a variety of online platforms and databases.
Not only does this allow businesses to keep track of their income and outgoings, it helps collate the information for tax purposes further down the line.
Is your business enjoying the benefits of online payments?
The above is barely scratching the surface of all the benefits online payments offer. If your business is yet to offer online payments to your customers, perhaps it’s time you did something about it and looked into online payment services.
Streamline your payments, attract a larger audience and potentially boost your profits by accepting online payments. Don’t leave your business stuck in the past – start making a move today, and you’ll be taking payments online in no time.
