As the e-commerce market grows more and more people are switching from shopping at traditional stores to online shopping. The benefits of online shopping are many. For example – You have a much wider array of products to choose from; it is much easier to compare products; there is no travelling involved as the products are delivered to your home etc. It is simply an easier, simpler and more convenient way of buying. However, even in this mode of shopping there is one area that has considerable room for improvement. It is the payment phase of the purchasing process. Many online payment platforms offer a very complex procedure for making and accepting payments, not to mention the complex procedure required to set up an account with those platforms. E-commerce entrepreneurs often complaint about potential customers who visit their sites, place an order, only to cancel it during the payment phase. These cancellations are often blamed on the complex payment procedures that customers don’t want to go through. There is a severe restriction on the possibility of ‘impulse purchases’ on the internet due to these lengthy processes.
Stripe is an online payment solution that was created with the aim of simplifying the online payment process. As a payment platform it is seamlessly integrated with your website allowing for a much simpler payment experience. Most payment gateways will have a multi step procedure for a user to complete a payment. Typically this process would involve asking the user for order confirmation; navigating the user to the payment platform’s website; asking the user to enter payment details; confirming the payment again and then finally redirecting the user back to the store. Stripe on the other hand accepts payment details right on the e-commerce website. Whenever a user places an order on a Stripe enabled online store, they are simply asked to input their payment details (credit / debit card details etc.) on the same website and the payment is done! There is no redirection to other websites and loading other pages in a multi step process. It is just an easier way to make payments.
Not only is making payments easier with Stripes but registering as a user is also much simpler. Unlike other gate ways which have multiple pages of details to be filled in, with Stripe it is as simple as entering your Name, Password, email and then confirming the password to register as a user.
Stripe also maintains a very simple and transparent pricing policy. It charges 2.9% plus 30 Cents for every successful transaction. While there are other competitors that offer similar rates, with Stripe there is no question of the hidden charges you often find amongst other providers. There are no charges for failed transactions, no minimum monthly charge and no kind of hidden charge at all. With all those charges missing you end up with a cost effective service.
All in all Stripe is easier to use and operate, for both customers and online stores and is a cost effective and simpler way of doing business on the internet.