Using PayPal on Your Ecommerce Site
So you’ve developed your new ecommerce site and setup the merchant gate with a provider such as eWay. The next question to address is whether you should add PayPal to the list of payment methods.
PayPal is the largest payment system on the Internet with more than 164 million accounts worldwide. Not only is this service available in 18 currencies but it boasts a range of payment options including most credit cards and bank accounts. If you will be marketing your products and services globally, these features will ensure your transactions will run smoothly.
When it comes to online payments, security is always a top concern for both you and your customers. When a payment is processed through PayPal, all financial data is kept confidential on PayPal’s secured servers. You will never be liable for securing this data yourself. PayPal takes an aggressive approach to security and offers a solid buyer protection plan, which helps alleviate the concerns of purchasing online that many users still have.
Considerable resources have been invested in the PayPal experience. The user interface is simple and intuitive, allowing users to complete transactions in sometimes as little as one click. This simplicity carries to the merchant features as well. Not only can you generate numerous reports, print shipping labels from sales, and process refunds easily, but you can even test these features in a self contained sandbox environment.
PayPal offers extended accessibility to your customers. Customers are not required to create a PayPal account to complete a transaction. Payments can even be made from mobile phones via PayPal Mobile.
Perhaps one of the most compelling reasons for considering PayPal is the bottom line. There is no fee for opening a merchant account. In fact, there is no monthly fee either. Instead, you will be charged a small percentage for each transaction. Often these costs are much lower than traditional online payment services.
Overall, PayPal packs a well rounded set of features for the low, per-transaction cost, especially for those businesses participating in global commerce.
