On an e-commerce site, the payment process is the one part of your website that can make or break the success of your business. Customers are getting so used to fast responses and efficient service that they have come to expect that from every website that is selling online. Most e-commerce sites take payment via credit cards. This is a convenient way for customers to pay and a good way for merchants to ensure that they get the money from the clients. Security is also an important concern. Because of this, many websites over-complicate the payment process. The result is a lengthy process that is frustrating for the customer to work through. Let's look at this is some more detail.

Why Do You Want to Simplify Your Payment Process?

The short answer to that question is to keep your customers happy and to grow your business. In business, the three things that should always be at the forefront of your mind are:

What do my customers want?

What will make their lives easier?

How will my product or service help or benefit my customers?

If you keep these three things in mind when designing your payment process, you will be on the path to success. To answer the first question, your customers want convenience and efficiency. This means that your payment process should follow a simple and logical order. It should be efficient in that it responds quickly when information is captured and should not time out halfway through the process. Make your customers' lives easier by making the process easy to use. When this is the case, you will have satisfied customers who will return to your website again to purchase. A simple and efficient payment process is one of the most valuable tools you can use on your e-commerce site to help you grow your business.

What Does the Payment Process Say About Your Business?

It is not difficult to get an efficient payment process in place but it does require some careful thought and investment. Too often businesses drop the ball and think they only need to promote their products and services effectively in order to grow. The difference is that in an online environment, it is exceptionally easy for a customer to leave your website and shop elsewhere. It doesn't take much time or effort. When you have gone to all the effort of capturing the customer's attention, you don't want them walking away just because your payment process bombs out. When you sign up for your credit card merchant account, you should have the option to purchase an e-commerce solution.  This is a good choice because it comes with years of expertise and design that incorporates the important aspects of the payment process. An efficient payment process shows your customers that you value service. It shows them you understand that they want simplicity and efficiency, and that you are willing to put in the effort to make that happen.

What Are the Most Important Steps in the Payment Process?

Any payment process has several basic steps that need to be completed. Get these steps right and you will keep the process simple. Most standard e-commerce merchant packages will have these steps set up as defaults. There is usually also the option to modify some of the steps to make things simpler or to tailor the process to suit your specific business.

The payment process starts with the shopping cart. This is where a customer places the items they wish to purchase until they are ready to pay for them. The next step is the checkout. This is where customers can review their shopping cart and proceed to payment. Once they have confirmed they want to purchase the items, they will be prompted to enter their credit card details. This step will include capturing the card holder's name, the card number, the expiration date of the card, and the credit card verification number.  If you want to add extra security measures, you may ask for the customer's billing address and additional identification verification. This is where you need to keep things simple. Have fields that can be transferred to the delivery information so the customer does not have to fill in the same details twice. Finally, when all the details are captured, the system should get an authorization on the credit card and confirm the transaction. At the end of the transaction, the customer should get a receipt confirming their purchase. All this needs to be completed within a matter of minutes.