Running a business is not easy. Aside from making sure that their ventures remain afloat during these turbulent times, small business owners also need to worry about how they can innovate their business practices, maintain customer retention, and find the resources for expansion.
Payment options are one aspect of your business that can greatly affect your customers, operations, and profits. The impact of diversifying your business’ payment options goes beyond the ordering and checkout process; it can significantly benefit your business and consumers alike. In this post, we’ve listed the top reasons why you should consider diversifying your small business’ payment options.
You make the checkout process easier for your customers
If your business has an ecommerce website, it’s important to simplify complicated processes in order to entice customers to shop. One such process that you need to simplify is the checkout process. By offering a diverse set of payment options, you make it easier and more convenient for your customers to buy from your online store. If you limit your customers’ payment options, they might feel frustrated, cornered, and choose to support your competitors instead.
Your customers are more likely to go through with their purchase
A survey by the Baymard Institute notes that at least 70% of online shoppers close a webpage without making a purchase. For small businesses that rely heavily on their online sales, this is a massive loss of potential revenue.
Many customers abandon their cart due to the lack of payment options. For this reason, it’s important to diversify your payment options as your customers are more likely to follow through with a purchase if their preferred payment method is offered by your ecommerce landing page.
You give your customers the chance to earn rebates and rewards
A lot of people apply for credit and debit cards due to the number of rebates and rewards that they can potentially earn. As seen in the benefits from Petal Card, users can earn 1% cashback on every purchase made using their card. What’s more, they can increase their cashback percentage to 1.5% if they pay on time. Other credit cards, such as the HSBC Premier World Elite, allow users to accumulate points that they can convert into airline miles. On top of that, cardholders also have access to 850 airport lounges and unlimited Wi-Fi access from Boingo. By including alternative payment options that offer rewards such as debit or credit cards, you can better encourage your customers to spend their hard-earned cash on your business.
You allow your business to reach a wider customer base
When you have an ecommerce business, you can target customers beyond your local area. By listing your business online, you get the chance to reach customers from all over the country and even in other continents. However, you have to remember that other localities and countries have their general preferred payment options as well. What you have on your website might not be available in other locations, so be sure to include as many payment options as you can — whether it’s digital wallets such as Cash App and PayPal, or cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum.
All in all, diversifying your payment options encourages your customers to support your business and allows your company to cater to a wider audience. In these trying times, it’s important to do all you can to help your business flourish — and diversifying your payment options can help do that.