Sometimes, what seems like a small detail like taking credit cards can be the determining factor in whether a business succeeds or fails. One of these factors is the acceptance of credit cards for purchases on your web site.
The success of a business is completely dependent on providing what the customers need. That includes an easy way of making a payment, especially when making a purchase online.
But accepting payment via credit cards at your ecommerce web site will make purchasing easier for your customer and lead to an increase in sales for you.
Remember the old saying – Make it easy for the customer to give you money!
Most people have credit cards that they use regularly for the ease of making payments and to eliminate the need to carry cash. Nearly every retail store you visit accepts credit card payments for purchases so why aren’t you?
Since the majority of banks have a maximum number of transactions they will allow you to make on a debit card and they often charge a fee for each purchase you make, this isn’t as viable an option to many customers.
Credit cards give you more freedom to make multiple purchases without costing you more. In the unlikely event that a store doesn’t accept credit cards, they will often go somewhere that does in order to make their purchase.
Your online business may depend entirely on your ability to take credit cards as payment for the purchases made from your Internet web site. As a result, many online businesses, both large and small, can now easily obtain their own merchant account that allows them to take credit cards as part of their business services.
Just go to your local bank and seek advice from the financial advisor on what you need to do to set your business up to take credit cards isn’t the best way to go however.
Most likely, your local bank still doesn’t get how the online sales model works and as a result, they will consider your application to be a higher risk. And with higher risk, comes greater fees.
Chances are that they’ll charge you about 15 more then what you could pay if you were to do a little digging online. In fact, many online shopping cart companies like http://www.1AutomationWiz.com/merchant accounts.htm will offer to set up your merchant account for you for free.
You will have extra paperwork to do when you make credit card payments available for your customers but this is far offset by the increase in profits you will obtain.
It is easy to see how this is even more important for online businesses since there are limited methods of payment that they can use. When visitors come to your web site, they need to have the ease and convenience of making their purchase quickly.
Writing a check or getting a money order involves a mailed payment that will slow down the ordering process and most people would rather complete the entire transaction online.
It is to your business’s advantage for you to go through the steps necessary to provide your customers with the option of making purchases with their credit cards. They will appreciate the convenience and you will reap the benefits.
Author Resource:
Don S. Schnure is the CEO of http://1AutomationWiz.com , the web's premiere online shopping cart software provider. For your own free merchant account, check out http://www.1automationwiz.com/merchant-accounts.htm