Ka-ching! Easy online payment systems

Jonathan Crossfield
4 July 2008
Page 1 of 2 : single page

Want a website that serves your customers and does all your banking for you as well? Jonathan Crossfield looks at the essential ingredients to a successful ecommerce system.

The internet has changed the way the world shops. A skateboarder in Brazil can buy knee pads from Canada with a couple of mouse clicks. A comic collector in England can find that rare issue of Spider-Man in Japan without leaving the bedroom. Akubra hats are popular with expats in France.

Global internet sales mean businesses can stay open day and night and anyone with the right product can produce a no-effort income. But to tap into this potential, your website needs to keep your life simple and give your customers ease of use and security.

Thankfully, cost-effective shopping cart and secure payment systems are widely available. Every day, ecommerce powerhouses are being launched out of bedrooms and basements. Traditional businesses are reinventing themselves online.

However, there are still pitfalls to be avoided. The greatest business idea is worthless if the customers don’t buy. Providing the best environment for the customer – not convenience for the business owner – is the key to successful ecommerce.

Consider the customer experience

Online shopping behaviour is fundamentally different to any other retail medium. To create a functional ecommerce store, you need a clear understanding of the online shopping experience.

If you haven’t already, visit Amazon or any of the other big online stores. Buy a small book, get some theatre tickets or subscribe to a service. Whatever you choose, carefully analyse the process of using shopping carts. What annoyed you? What surprised you? When did you want to click back? How many times were you asked to enter information? Did you complete the transaction? Was there email follow-up?

For your website, there are a number of shopping cart applications and online payment systems available. As always, there are good and bad features to weigh up when choosing the best solution for your business. When considering the features and packages available, try to look at them through the eyes of your customers, not your own. After all, you won’t be using the shopping cart, your customers will.

Internet users are fickle and notorious for having short attention spans. Mouse fingers are always itchy to click away at the slightest inconvenience. By simply understanding how customers behave, you can choose a shopping cart design to encourage sales.

Yet even the best shopping cart can fail if the online payment service doesn’t encourage users to click the button. Credit card fraud is still a major concern for the majority of online shoppers. Consequently, it’s vital to provide a safe transaction if you want to convert as many customers as possible.

Building a user-friendly and secure ecommerce website doesn’t have to be expensive. There are several extremely popular solutions that are proven to be effective in removing worry from your sale.

Checklist

Beginner. You're a new online business looking for a cost-effective, professional and secure sales solution.
Expert. You're an established business needing more control and fewer fees with sales going straight to your bank account.

Beginner

Is it for you?

You're just starting out
It’s too early to invest in a payment gateway
You want a simple, flexible solution

Challenge

Setting up an online store as a side business was a simple process for Andrew Blundell. Having worked with walkabout.com while travelling in Canada five years ago, it was a short leap to building his own Australian version at walkaboutdownunder.com.au external link .

Selling everything from Akubras to Driza-bones, Blundell is tapping into a popular market for travellers, outdoor types and expat Aussies.

Blundell’s full-time job left him limited time to devote to the store, so he needed a website that could function easily as a side project. It was important to find the balance between customer needs and his own.

Blundell needed a website that could look after itself and an efficient payment system. Lacking the time to manually process orders and the finances to set up a traditional online merchant account, Blundell needed a basic payment solution. This solution also needed to be popular with his customers.

“As I was just starting the business, I didn’t want to sign up with a bank or payment gateway system," he says. "I didn’t know how successful the site would be, and I didn’t want to spend fees each month for transactions I might not be using.”

Solution: Shopping cart with PayPal

Extremely fast setup
Process international payments
Creates more functional websites that attract customers
Shopping carts from $299
Free PayPal setup

Blundell met with Netregistry’s Justen Freeman, who explained some of the available shopping cart software options.

“Netregistry has established specific relationships with the shopping cart software providers so it can tailor them to particular industries,” says Freeman.

Freeman also helped Blundell select a web designer familiar with shopping cart software who could create the final site. Usability was a major factor in this choice.

“I’m not technically minded with respect to coding,” Blundell explains. “I needed something that was user-friendly and that I could tailor to my needs.”

The payment solution was completed in five minutes by registering with PayPal. PayPal has no monthly subscription fees; you are only charged when you sell something. This is an important cash flow benefit for a new business.

“Consumer confidence in online payment methods is critical for building customer loyalty for businesses trying to build an online presence,” explains Andrew Pipolo, managing director at PayPal. With over five million accounts in Australia, and millions more worldwide, PayPal is no longer simply the payment end of eBay. “Although eBay is still where the majority of PayPal transactions take place, more than 8500 merchants in Australia now offer PayPal as a way to safely pay for a variety of goods and services online,” says Pipolo.

Merchants include DealsDirect, ezyDVD, Harris Technology, iSubscribe, Jetabroad, OO, Roses Only, RSVP and Sanity.

“PayPal operates in 190 markets and offers support for 17 different currencies, which makes it an easier way to transact across geographical boundaries,” he adds.

Conclusion

Blundell's website smoothly blends design and functionality, providing an easy shopping experience with an Australian flavour. More importantly, he doesn’t need to spend much time on administration.