With the unprecedented growth that is being experienced in the E-Commerce space, it is important to have an efficient payment process for shoppers. Different processing systems allows shoppers to easily check out the goods they have bought online and reduces cases of cart abandonment which provides for a great customer experience. On the other end, E-Commerce stores are able to cut down on their costs and increase the traffic flow to their sites.
There are several options that online stores can consider when deciding which payment processing system to use. These include Shopify, Stripe, Stax, Helcim, Payoneer and PayPal. Each of these options has a unique competitive advantage over the others and so it really depends on the type of experience that the online store seeks to give its shoppers. Some options cater to specific industries, others focus on fraud prevention, some aim at providing a smooth international experience among others.
Let’s focus now shift our focus to the stripe mode of payment processing and see what is in it for the shopper and the E-Commerce store.
What is so special about Stripe Payment Processing?
Stripe stands out from the other processing options because of how versatile it is. E-Commerce shops that offer several services and processes have a one-stop solution in Stripe. Additionally, Stripe is very Developer-friendly which means that different teams within an E-commerce shop can customize their payment methods to suit the versatility of their clientele.
Another reason why Stripe stands out is the fact that it offers support for both online and offline customers. Stores that are still operating as brick and mortar can use the Stripe POS system to enable payments. Stripe accepts all the major Debit and Credit cards from around the world.
Is Stripe good for E-Commerce?
To answer this question, we need to keenly look at what Stripe offers the market and determine whether it is worth a good rating or not. Some of the things that the platform offers include;
They have a customized pricing plan in addition to their standard payment plan of 2.9%+$0.30 charges per transaction. The customized plan accommodates volume purchases per product as well as multiple products purchase discounts.
·Stripe offers amazing technical support and customer services that enable users to troubleshoot their problems with the platform or directly engage with the support team through phone calls, Emails and live chats.
- Stripe is developer-Friendly. This is a very useful aspect especially for stores that want to customize their payments. They have a wide range of tools that they use to achieve this including a massive library for coding languages, comprehensive integrations and API that is very user friendly.
- Stripe has both the POS and E-Commerce gateway which means that if your store has both the physical and online presence, you get a one stop solution for your payment processes.
- The Stipe UI toolkit allows its users to customize their checkout process which further gains points for its user experience.
With Stripe, you have the flexibility to use different cards (credit and debit) from all over the world. Whether you have a Visa, Mastercard, JCB, Union Pay or American Express, you can be guaranteed of a smooth transaction process with Stripe. Additionally, one can also customize their Stripe payment gateway by integrating different payment options such as MasterPass, Apple Pay and Visa checkout.
What are the Disadvantages of Stripe?
As with any good product ever invented, there are Pros and Cons to the Stripe payment processing system. Let’s have a quick look at some of the shortcomings of this platform which include;
While the platform is Developer friendly, this poses a challenge to users without the technical knowledge to customize the experience. One requires expertise in the field of software development so as to fully take advantage of the different tools available and open API. This makes Stripe not favorable for beginners.
Stripe offers POS services but this function is normally limited for restaurants and businesses. Basically, the brick-and-mortar aspect of their services is not well polished.
Stripe is more expensive in comparison to other processing methods such as PayPal.
Alternatives to Stripe Payment Processing
There are several alternative solutions to the Stripe Payment Processing available in the market currently. The choice of each depends on the solution one is seeking for their E-Commerce venture.
- PayPal – This platform is known for its ease of use and caters best for physical businesses that want to spread their wings to the online space. It’s the best choice for those starting out in the online store space.
- PayLine Data – This platform accommodates both the traditional physical businesses as well as online businesses. Their pricing is also considered affordable thus making it attractive to businesses that desire to sell their products through multiple channels.
- WePay – If you run an E-Commerce store and have no prior software development experience, this is the best platform to consider. WePay eases customers’ abilities to send and receive money by enabling merchants to create payment platforms.
- Authorize.Net – If your business has a merchant account already and all that is a gateway payment, this is the way to go. This platform provides payment gateways or helps you acquire one through their resellers.
- Square – This platform offers a wide variety of solutions including payroll, billing, E-Commerce store builder as well as payment solutions. They fully support Brick and Mortar businesses that want to expand to the online store space.
- 2Checkout – For online stores that primarily deal with digital products, subscriptions and international businesses, this is a great platform to consider. Not only do they focus on providing solutions for global payments and digital goods, they also offer E-Commerce tools that are guaranteed to take your business to the next level.
From the discussion above, it’s clear there are many alternatives when it comes to payment processing options but we can also conclude that Stripe is indeed a great option to consider.
