How Credit Card Processing Can Increase Online Sales

Should you accept credit card payments online? If you’ve just started a small business, you are probably considering the various avenues to generate income, one of which is the Internet. However, most people nowadays use credit cards to make payments online, and this means that you have to open up a merchant account, and add the extra transaction fees to each sale. The question then becomes: how will this affect your bottom line?

Credit card processing allows you to reach a much wider market

While it is true that credit card transactions come with extra fees, these fees are fairly nominal, and they are typically offset many, many times over by the larger trading volume that occurs when you accept credit cards. With a brick-and-mortar store, it’s conceivable that there may be enough people willing to pay cash to support some businesses, but in the online sphere, virtually all sales you are likely to transact occur using credit cards. Of course, it’s worth mentioning that even in brick-and-mortar, credit card processing typically increases sales to the point where the fees are covered many times over.

Rapid fund transfer

Still, you might remain unconvinced, and try to work with an older option such as money order or checks. These two methods come with enormous disadvantages. Transferring funds in this manner can take a considerable amount of time, especially when compared to a card payment. On top of that, checks may bounce, and once a product is delivered, it’s hard to get a bad customer to return it.

You are also met with a second problem when using these two methods of payment – there is a hard limit to how much a customer can purchase. With a credit card, spending limits are very loose, and this encourages customers to spend more when shopping. So not only do you have access to a larger market, you have access to a market that has more buying power.

Of course the biggest disadvantage is that you may lose the sale entirely.  Accepting credit cards lets you get the sale while your customer is still interested.  By the time the customer has to go through all the steps of finding their checkbook, writing the check, balancing their ledger, addressing an envelope, and walking to a mailbox, they may no longer feel the excitement they felt at the moment of making the purchasing decision, and they may lose interest.

Brand recognition and customer service

Associating your business with brands such as MasterCard and Visa can automatically give your business a boost of legitimacy. Brand recognition and authenticity are the first steps towards a positive customer experience, and a positive customer experience leads to repeat business.

Speaking of a positive customer experience, card transactions are the fastest, smoothest, most secure and most in demand payment method over the internet. Customers have come to expect a quick buying process online that goes off without a hitch, and cards are the best method to purchase online goods and services. As a small business, ensuring that your customers have a positive buying experience is essential to building a large, recurring base.

For more information about the benefits of online credit card processing, or to open a merchant account, please call (888) 924-2743 or go to Charge.com.