[dropcap]I[/dropcap]f you own a retail business, there’s no quicker way to expand operations than by setting up an eCommerce site and allowing customers to purchase your products from your website and make online payments. This adds a certain level of versatility and customer service to your business, and will even help attract new customers!
But wait, how do you accept payments on your new eCommerce site? How will customers be able to checkout and pay for the items they want? This easy guide will show you popular ways of accepting payment methods online and why having a modern POS system is so crucial to both off and online operations.
Use a POS System
Yes, you can use payment sites such as PayPal on your site, and while you should offer PayPal as an option, most people pay online with a credit card. That means you need a safe, secure, and reliable way to process credit card transactions on your website. So, what do you do? Pay for third-party software? Decline credit card payments on your site? Neither.
If you’ve already got a POS system, you’re in luck; it will most likely work with your website as well. If you’re using cloud-based POS solutions, your payment processing is as easy as setting up an online store within your POS software.
Mobile POS for retail stores is designed to be versatile enough to handle both eCommerce and brick-and-mortar needs, so you won’t have to worry about your inventory or sales numbers on either end being inaccurate or not synchronized.
POS systems are also affordable solutions to your eCommerce needs. Everything you need to manage inventory, payments, and even your customer data is included with your software. Thousands of businesses all over the globe trust these modern solutions to help run their businesses efficiently and securely process all kinds of payments.
Set Up Your Website
Your eCommerce site is only as good as its design. Blocky, hard-to-navigate website designs only cause frustration, and websites that are over-loaded with ads or graphics are distracting and annoying. When it comes to your website, simplicity is key. Don’t get distracted by oohs and aahs from attractive graphics. Keep your designs simple but functional. In fact, the functionality of your eCommerce site should always come before the aesthetics, because even the best-looking site can have errors that make it impossible to use.
Many new eCommerce businesses use sites like Wix to get started, and while web-building tools are great for personal blogs and websites, they’re not specifically great for eCommerce. The best thing you can do for yourself and your website is to get a professional web developer/designer to build you a custom website. Yes, it will cost you money, but you’ll be getting much more customized and lasting results.
Web-building sites use templates, and while they’re customizable to a point, you won’t get the same level of customization you would from a designer.
Integrate Your POS Software
Most of the time, your eCommerce store will be embedded into your website via your POS software. Other times, you’ll have a customized store within the POS itself, which users will be navigated to when they click “buy now” or the price of an item.
Once you’ve got your eCommerce site set up, you can integrate your POS software. This is where all of your product information and pricing is stored, so you won’t have to worry about manually uploading all of your products to the site.
Test Run With Online Payments
Before your site goes live, you’ll want to make sure it’s working! Have a friend or family member make a purchase through your site so you can make sure the payment processes quickly and goes through on both ends. Alternatively, you can make a purchase yourself and achieve the same results.
Don’t forget to include shipping costs in your pricing on the website. This will be something you won’t have to worry about in-store, but unless you plan on offering free shipping, your customers will want to know the cost.
Several shipping companies offer discounts to companies that use their services, so check with UPS or Fedex to see if you can get any special business discounts for shipping your products. This will help save both you and your customers money on shipping costs, which can add up quickly.
Conclusion
Setting up online payments is as simple as having a great website and a good POS system to integrate with. Modern POS systems are versatile and affordable, so if you’re not using one yet, it’s time to get one! Your on and offline operations will be synchronized, you’ll reduce errors, and can process payments quickly and securely.
Don’t forget to include the shipping costs on your website and define any shipping restrictions you adhere to (like no international shipping, etc.)
