Which E-Commerce solution is right for you?

Ever thought about selling your wares on the net? Many consumers prefer shopping online because it saves them time and makes prices easier to compare. So, by not having an online shopping option built into your website you could potentially be throwing away money! Integrating e-commerce functionality makes a lot of sense, especially if you’re all about increasing sales and boosting that bottom line.

There are many different aspects to consider when setting up an e-commerce website, including which payment solution works best for your business. Below are a few of the more popular options available to you.

PayPal

You can bet that most regular online shoppers will have a PayPal account as it is by far the most universal and trusted platform for online transactions.

There are two ways PayPal can be integrated into a website; PayPal Standard and PayPal Express. Both methods give the same end result, that is PayPal processes the transaction and the money appears in the account. The difference between the two is that PayPal Express bypasses your website checkout page and feeds the details from the users PayPal account directly into your site. This means the user will not have to enter shipping address, email etc as this information is already supplied from their PayPal account.

PayPal Standard is free to implement, however the Express option does require extra development time as well as access to the users PayPal account. Here is a list of merchant fees you might expect if you decide to go with Paypal.

Stripe

One of the newer kids on the block is Stripe and it’s received rave reviews as a simple, clean and easily integrated e-commerce gateway.

This option gives fields for the user to enter credit card details and feeds these through to Stripe to process the transaction. The money is then deposited into the website Stripe account, much like it would into a PayPal account. The main advantage of Stripe over PayPal, apart from presenting far better, is that users don’t need to leave your website, which avoids any confusion for users who are not familiar with the PayPal system.

Whilst Stripe is free to integrate, the development into the site can take a little longer and an SSL certificate is required (as credit card details are being entered into the site directly). A list of Stripe merchant fees can be found here.

Individual Bank

Each of the big 4 banks in Australia offer their own e-commerce solutions; where the main advantage is speed!

Unlike Paypal and Stripe, both of which have varied transfer delays, all money is automatically directed into your online banking account. However the development required for this option is time consuming and requires purchasing additional plugins, many of which have a recurring annual fee. As a result of these extra headaches and costs, on top of the bank merchant fees, we generally recommend using either PayPal, Stripe or both!

So what is the solution?

It basically boils down to which method works best for your personal circumstances. Are you looking to get your hands on your money quickly, want to reduce confusion while keeping your website looking at it’s best or do you prefer to err on the side of experience?

Whatever your online shopping preference, we can lend you a guiding hand in the right direction.