When I started selling books online, I learned one lesson quickly: people need a mix of alternative payment and credit card payment-based options. If payment choices don’t suit your potential buyers, they walk away. It wasn’t long before I had several payment methods. The result? Increased follow through of sales.
If your Shopify store has high traffic, but low sales, one factor might be the types of payment solutions you’re offering (or lack thereof). The good news? Shopify integrates with 100+ payment providers globally, making it easier to strike gold with your customers’ payment preferences.
What’s an Alternative Payment Method?
Alternative payment methods, also known as APMs, include options such as prepaid cards, eWallets (digital wallets), mobile payments, and online payments. They are referred to as alternatives because they are different from manual payments such as money orders and traditional payment methods such as credit cards.
If you accept credit, you should consider offering APMs because, in many cases, credit card holders already have them and have a high level of comfort using them.
5 Popular Alternative Shopify-Integrated Payment Providers
Shopify integrates with scores of payment providers, so it’s a good practice to research shopper demographics to choose what’s best. In this post, I invite you to take a look at these popular APMs:
- PayPal
- Amazon Pay
- Apple Pay
- Google Pay
- Splitit
When setting up Shopify store payment methods, you can select these platforms as plugins. A payment provider plugin integrates with Shopify and handles the technical handshakes in the background so you can offer a variety of Shopify checkout alternatives.
PayPal
PayPal is an online payment provider available in 200+ markets worldwide enabling payments to merchants for goods and services. Founded in 1998, the alternative payment platform has 277 million account holders and disperses payments in 100+ currencies.
Like other payment gateways, Paypal can be used as an intermediary for bank accounts, credit cards, and debit cards to fund transactions. Users can also obtain a PayPal business debit, PayPal Credit account, or hold PayPal balances in 25 different currencies to pay for goods.
Amazon Pay
Amazon Pay is an online payment service that works through your Internet browser, mobile devices, and via Alexa voice-command technology. With Amazon Pay your customers pay immediately, but may also defer payments, split payments, or activate recurring payments.
While there are many benefits for eCommerce merchants with Shopify stores such as increased conversion and reduced cart abandonment, customers receive payment flexibility and security from a name hundreds of millions of consumers already know.
Apple Pay
With more than 1.5 billion active Apple device users, it makes sense to consider Apple Pay as a Shopify checkout alternative. Like other payment gateways, Apple Pay empowers users to pay for goods through devices securely through contact-free technology in stores, via apps, and online. Customers also have the option of having an Apple Card, a fee-free credit card that works with Apple Pay and offers 2% daily cash back rewards.
Google Pay
Like Apple Pay, Google Pay enables your customers to make in-person contactless card payments, but also gives them power to shop online or via mobile devices. Contact-free, online, and in-app payment options may vary depending on the country.
Google Pay uses a unique encrypted credit card number instead of your customer’s actual number to add an additional layer of security.
Splitit
Splitit is one of several, reputable buy now pay later (BNPL) solutions enabling shoppers to make large purchases with smaller installment payments over time. The alternative payment choice has no fees, application, or credit check for the customer, allowing them to split payments over a set term, funding purchases with an available credit line on an existing Visa or Mastercard. Shopify merchants can add Splitit’s BNPL solution to their websites within minutes, with the Shopify plugin. According to Statista, there were more than 1 billion Visa and 926 million Mastercard cardholders globally in 2019. Splitit leverages existing cards to provide more payment flexibility.
Final Thoughts: Choosing The Right Alternative Payment Methods
The more barriers you can remove to a smooth checkout process, the better. Before choosing payment options in your Shopify store, consider the big picture of your shopper’s experience such as ease-of-use, transaction fees, and overall security measures. Be sure to set up a mechanism to get feedback from shoppers so you can offer best-in-class payment alternatives.