Categories
Business

Why Multi-Currency Support Is Crucial for Businesses

As more and more people shift to online shopping, businesses strive to keep up with the demand and satisfy the market. Customers today are not confined to stores in their location; you can quickly develop a customer base and a following for your brand in another country. That is if your website has the right structures in place.

Customers are more likely to use credit cards in their transactions online, and they will be more eager to complete a sale if a website supports their preferred payment method, currency, and language. It is why you must have an e-commerce solution that offers multi-currency support.

The value of multi-currency support

Having multi-currency support enables you to provide payment options that your shoppers use locally. Customers in other nations usually have to pay in U.S. Dollars or Euros, which could deter them if they do not normally transact with these currencies.

Some payment solutions offer shoppers the ability to pay in Australian or Canadian Dollars, Swiss Francs, Danish Krone, British Pounds, Japanese Yen, and many others, on top of USD and Euros. Providing this to your customers also gives you additional benefits.

1. Supporting multiple currencies fosters customer loyalty

When you use multi-currency support, you help customers avoid the extra fees they incur from currency conversion. When they see these additional charges, it might cause them to issue a chargeback or request a refund. Transparent pricing will help you get repeat sales, and eliminating additional charges will make your products an attractive option.

Being consistent in your pricing will help you win the trust of your customers. A rounded number is more convincing; if your customers see 25.00 USD instead of 24.79, they are more likely to complete the sale.

2. Multi-currency support is convenient for both parties

Besides giving customers the ability to pay in various currencies, you also provide them with various payment methods. In countries like China, where WeChat Pay and Alipay are the most widely-used payment channels, this is invaluable. 

Multi-currency pricing is also convenient for the retailer. You won’t have to worry about complicating your store; a payment page builder lets you do this through a simple, intuitive interface.

3. Multi-currency solutions ensure purchase completion

Shopping cart abandonment goes hand-in-hand with customer retention. A multi-currency platform minimizes chargeback rates and refunds since they display and charge the same prices. Furthermore, customers will appreciate the effort you’re taking to show figures in their local currency.

You can also calculate currency exchange rates and account for market fluctuations by adding a buffer percentage for cross-sells. Doing this allows you to control sales in other countries and lets you secure your profit margin. It can also help you compute for discounts.

Conclusion

Your e-commerce platform will benefit from having a multi-currency display. However, you should vet your e-commerce partner properly. They should be able to support your business when it opens its doors to the international market and understand that companies have different requirements, which are informed by their target market and its location.


Make it easier for customers to transact with your business; use our WordPress plugin to create a hosted payment page. Customize your payment gateway and enable flexible, global payments on your website. Get in touch with us today to learn more!

Categories
Business

4 Pointers to Help Your SME Operate Amidst a Pandemic – Our Guide

The COVID-19 outbreak has impacted almost all businesses around the world. While some establishments have completely shut down, others have resorted to continuing to operate under various restrictions. 

Given the current situation, small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs) are dramatically affected, including brick-and-mortar stores, home service providers, restaurants, and many others. However, there are creative ways that you can serve your customers so that your business adapts and thrives during these hard times.

In this article, we will share four valuable pointers for SMEs on how to continue operations  despite the current COVID-19 outbreak:

1. Utilize video conferences for face-to-face interactions

Today, you can communicate and interact with people using video conferencing. SMEs can also take advantage of utilizing video conferences to interact with their customers or clients. 

There are a handful of video applications and software that can be used for this purpose. Even social media channels enable you to talk to and engage with your customers. A perfect example is Zoom, which is a free video conferencing platform, but where you need to pay a subscription fee if you want to communicate for extended periods with your customers. It’s best when using Zoom to set up a private call for all business interactions to ensure security and professionalism.

2. If you must pursue in-person interactions avoid shared surfaces

Some small businesses are still required to operate to cater to the needs of the general public. These include grocery stores, pharmacies, restaurants (for delivery or pickup), and other essential suppliers. The challenge, however, is in maintaining social distancing to avoid contact and to keep you, your staff, and customers healthy. 

The good thing is that you can set safety measures in place where you can pursue in-person interactions while avoiding shared surfaces. For instance, customers can have checkout in a supermarket using contactless cards without direct contact with the employees or the payment terminal. 

3. Use text messages to update and communicate

Seeing that communication remains to be the key for many businesses, you should have a variety of  processes for reaching out and maintaining contact with customers. You should make a conscious effort to reach out to your customers or clients via text messages or email. 

It can be a good practice to share real-time updates regularly, especially for updates regarding promotions or COVID-19 health updates. Furthermore, if customers have any questions, issues, and concerns, remember to be highly responsive in answering their queries, providing solutions to their problems, and addressing their concerns.

4. Take advantage of online payment methods

In today’s world, financial transactions do not have to be made in person. This is mainly because there’s a wide range of online payment methods that every business can utilize. 

Online payments can provide customers with various options to pay, such as credit cards, ACH, or other international payment options available in different regions of the world, like iDeal or WeChat Pay. 

Your business checkout process should be streamlined and user-friendly for the customer to avoid any potential errors. Most importantly, the payment form must remain secure for the protection of the customers’ confidential information.

Offering an online payment mechanism is a useful way to offer an easy solution for payments that normally might have been made in person, or through other more complicated means. 

Finding a solution

Overall, there will always be solutions in every challenging situation. As outlined above, you can utilize video conferences to facilitate face-to-face interactions, pursue in-person interactions by avoiding shared surfaces, use text messages and email to update and communicate, and take advantage of online payment methods. 

Despite the COVID-19 outbreak, the current situation doesn’t necessarily have to stop your business from operating and serving the needs of your customers. 

If you need a streamlined and beautifully designed payment form, we provide SMEs with a hosted payment page for accepting payments from across the globe. Get in touch with us today!

Categories
eCommerce

5 Payment Options Your SMB Should Integrate in 2021

As businesses continue to innovate and incorporate various forms of technology into their operations, there are now dozens of options by which customers can complete financial transactions with your business online. In this article, we’ll focus on 5 key methods for accepting payments in 2021.

Credit and Debit Cards

As of 2021, 80% of customers prefer to make transactions using a credit card and are, in fact, willing to spend 100% more on products and services when using one. How you go about accepting these types of payments will depend on what kind of business you operate. 

If you’re a brick-and-mortar business, you’ll need a merchant account and card reader to accept credit cards. Merchant accounts allow businesses to receive payments in various ways. 

If you run an ecommerce business, you’ll need a payment gateway to accept online credit and debit card transactions. This will encrypt all information submitted by customers on your payment page, ensuring that their details remain safe and confidential. You don’t want to take any chances with information security, so be sure you’re employing a payment gateway that is PCI (payment card industry) compliant. 

ACH Processing

Monitored by the Automated Clearing House (ACH) Association, this payment method allows customers to disclose their bank account details and routing numbers for online payments. ACH processing is a popular method of accepting subscription or recurring payments. 

It’s proven advantageous to many SMBs, as it comes with lower fees compared to those that accept credit or debit cards. It’s also far more secure than accepting monthly written checks. 

Finally, ACH processing can save your business a lot of time, as payments are automatically withdrawn once you enter the customer’s information into your system. Ultimately, this will improve your cash flow and create a more predictable revenue pattern. 

Stripe is a payment gateway that supports ACH payments of many kinds with a Plaid integration. 

Recurring Billing Subscriptions

To make the working relationship easier between you and your customers and facilitate payments for products and services of all kinds, you can provide your customers with the option to sign up for a subscription plan. Using their debit or credit card, they can make automatic monthly payments that are convenient for them and guarantee that your business is paid on time, providing you and your customers with peace of mind.

PayPal, Stripe, and Square

If you’re using PayPal, Stripe, or Square, you won’t need to set up a merchant account. However, which method you choose will depend on the type of business you run, so be sure to research features that best suit your operations. Of the three, PayPal is among the top 3 highest-ranking eWallets online

Contactless Payment Systems

A new trend in the U.S. is that you can now accept payments wirelessly by asking customers to wave their card or device over a POS system. Without the need to enter a PIN or even scan a card, contactless payment systems are becoming increasingly popular in places like the U.K. and Australia. 

As the U.S. has been slow to adopt the trend, your business can take advantage of how Visa and Mastercard are beginning to offer contactless cards to customers. Additionally, mobile wallet methods such as Android or Apple Pay are becoming increasingly popular with mobile users. 

Payment Solution

Implementing new payment methods onto your website can be complex and take up a valuable amount of time. If you’re a SMB and need to accept online payments, you can team up with us at Payment Page. With our payment page solution, you can start accepting online payments in just a few easy steps using any of the gateways or payment options mentioned above.