Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Alternate Online Payment Options to Boost Online Sales



Most of the ecommerce sites provide their customers numerous payment options including PayPal and cash-on-delivery. Most of the payment gateways accept all types of credit cards and debit cards. They also provide secure payment options but...
  • Are we really sure these will help in increasing sales?
  • How will your payment options attract the untapped customers?
  • How can these increase the online sales?
Here, I have done a research for a while and have tried to provide the alternate online payment options which can be provided on the ecommerce website that can help you increase the online sales. As these payment options can attract the untapped customers who do not want to use their credit cards or debit cards over the internet. Many people don't have credit or debit cards, or even bank accounts, and some are simply reluctant to give their financial details online. U.S. consumers used cash to make about $1.2 trillion in purchases last year, according to research firm Aite Group. Still, Americans without bank cards face hassles trying to pay bills, shop online, or make travel reservations.


These alternate payment options thus, open up new markets and customers to which you can sell the products and/or services.

Vouchers

There are a lot of companies which offer vouchers. But, the best and popular ones are UKash and paysafesard.

Ukash is an established international company that provides an alternative way for people to pay for goods and services online. Users enjoy using Ukash because it is easy and there are no age restrictions. No credit or debit cards are needed and you don't even have to share any personal or financial details.

UKash is accepted in almost 33 countries.

paysafecard also works on the same method as UKash. Your customers can get the paysafecard worth $10, $25, $50 or $100 from a local store. paysafecard is available from 300.000 sales outlets worldwide. When one buys a paysafecard they get a 16-digit PIN printout that the customer can enter at the online store which accepts it. No personal data or bank account details are required. To pay for larger amounts, up to $500, you can easily combine up to ten paysafecards.
Please note that Ukash charges 6.5% of sales while paysafecard charges 9.5%. Since people buy them at convenience stores, the cost is high. But, they provide you instant access to people who do not want to use cards as well as people who do not have cards.

Ukash is popular in Britain and they started to expand to South America also recently. paysafecard is very popular in Germany, Austria and the german speaking belt.

Since this is prepaid format, there are no issues of any chargebacks or fraud transactions.
 
eWallets
 
The popular in eWallets are moneybookers.com and Neteller.
 
Since becoming the first emoney issuer to obtain an electronic money licence from the FSA it’s taken Moneybookers less than a decade to change the world of online payments. With their mix of consumer and business focused solutions they have become one of Europe's leading digital money companies operating one of the world's largest independent eWallet platforms on the internet.
 
Moneybookers helps online business web sites accept credit and debit cards. For the most part, when you use Moneybookers, you are only able to accept credit and debit. It's a very basic payment gateway – a simple solution for many small businesses. Moneybookers processes payments in such a way as to help your customers feel secure, since they are not giving personal payment information to the seller.


Moneybookes help online businesses to get access over 100 payment options with one simple integration, all backed with fraud and chargeback protection. One of the main advantages to using a Moneybookers payment gateway is the lack of fees. There are no set up fees, nor are there monthly fees. Social Security Number and address verification checks are available at no cost. Many of these benefits are also available when you sign up for what is known as the "eBay accepted payment option." You can even accept international payments. The only fees charged are transaction fees, and those are based on your monthly sales.

Most of the online gaming and casino websites offers NETeller as alternative payment options. NETeller is an online secure funds transfer service operator. With any action, there has to be a counteraction. That’s why, with the explosion in e-commerce, online purchases and gaming over the last few years, there has also been a major surge in the demand for secure online funds transfer services. NETeller has stayed ahead of its competitors through incredible service offerings, competitive rates and all-round good customer relations. This has led to NETeller becoming the top-of-mind online funds transfer service in a short time since it began operations in 1999. Online consumers can instantly move funds to and from any merchant site that is affiliated with NETeller.

Pay Cash at local store

You can conviniently as your customers to buy online and pay cash near a local store.
PayNearMe follows a simple 3-step process. After selecting an item online to purchase or a payment to make, customers:

PayNearMe intends to make it both cheaper and easier for consumers to pay for everything with cash by visiting a 7-Eleven.

Direct Bank Transfers

There are lot of options for direct bank transfer like www.envoyservices.com. They have already integrated lot of bank transfer gateways so it makes an ecommerce life easy.

Providing additional and alternative payment options can help in increasing the online sales by 15-20%. The important think is you are increasing the market and thus, the customer base.

I would love to hear your thoughts and feedback on this alternative payment options.