NFIB

Don't Limit the Ways Your E-customers Can Pay for Their Purchases
04/ 15/ 2002

When designing a site that enables customers to purchase items online, it's tempting for the small business owner to automate the entire process, removing themselves from as much of the process as possible. But you must consider those who still aren't comfortable buying over the Internet. In today's Workshop, Jeffrey Moses suggests five ways to take payments from online customers.

1. Direct credit card purchases -- either hiring a service that automatically processes the card transaction or using a system that you process manually after customers provide their credit card number and information. Both are adequate options for small business owners who want minimal hassle processing orders. The cost for online processing of card purchases is relatively little, often only $25 to 30 per month and about 2.5 percent of purchase price. Make sure that your web designer uses the most advanced security protocol available. Having your customers' credit card information stolen while using your site could ruin your business.

2. Credit card purchasing by e-mail -- considered somewhat insecure compared to option one. To overcome the security issue with this option, ask customers to provide only their phone numbers, not credit card information. You can then call and take the card information over the phone.

3. Credit card purchasing by telephone -- the tried-and-true toll-free call is still one of the most widely used ways for customers to place orders. The drawback making your operators available 24-hours-a-day, seven days a week. You can limit phone orders to certain hours during the day, which decreases the total number of orders you receive, but enables you to operate with a conveniently sized, in-house staff. Always have a toll-free line for customers and provide a local phone number with area code for international customers.

4. Credit card purchasing by fax -- the site should provide a form customers can download and print, providing space for all information about the products being ordered, pricing and shipping costs, the card information, and address/phone number for shipping. You'll want to have a dedicated fax line for order taking, along with a staff member to handle these transactions securely.

5. Other payment options include: mailing in a check or money order, COD (Collect on Delivery), digital cash (through a number of vendors offering this service), and taking checking account information over the phone (using services that set up systems so you can simply take the customer's bank number, checking account number, and dollar amount of purchase).

Every site should offer at least a few of these options for customers. By doing so, you'll satisfy the widest number of customers possible, and will increase your number of orders.

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