Setting up your e-commerce store via the Shopify platform is only the beginning of your online journey as a business owner. As you’ve likely noticed already, your choices for set up of your site are virtually limitless with a Shopify store. From colors, to fonts, to product descriptions and themes for your site. And just when you think you’ve made all the decisions you need to for your store, you come to the Shopify payment apps option.
But this doesn’t have to stop you in your tracks.
Perhaps you aren’t sure which Shopify apps benefit you the most, or which payment methods your shoppers prefer. But this is an area that deserves careful consideration. Choosing the right Shopify payment apps not only benefits you as the merchant, but has enormous benefits for your shoppers.
Let’s look at why choosing the right Shopify payment apps means more for your bottom line and benefits your shoppers, and which apps can make your Shopify store achieve a new level of productivity.
The benefit of offering an installment payment solution
Before we dive into payment apps for your Shopify store, let’s review why offering various payment methods — including pay-over-time solutions — are beneficial for your store.
Benefits for shoppers
Payment plans offer your shopper the ultimate in flexibility. By offering a pay-over-time option at checkout, your shopper has more control and choices for paying for an item. For your shopper, an installment payment method like Splitit means:
- Predictable, monthly installment payments
- Automatic payments versus a manual payment plan where your shopper has to remember to pay
- Easier to budget
- No additional interest
- No additional paperwork or application fees
- Ability to afford an item outside of their budget
Benefits for merchants
But the benefits of offering a payment plan don’t stop with the shoppers. Merchants see a positive impact when offering various ways for a customer to pay, including installment payment options. The benefits for a merchant are numerous, including:
- Increased sales: Price is an important factor for your shoppers. We know most abandon their purchases because a price or shipping costs are too high. By offering a payment plan checkout option, an item for your shopper may now be within reach for their budget. This means a greater likelihood of a shopper purchasing from your store if you’re offering payment flexibility, leading to increased sales.
- Increased average order value (AOV): AOV is the average amount a shopper spends on an order from your site. By increasing your AOV, you’re impacting your bottom line. And there are multiple methods to improve your AOV with your Shopify store, including offering a payment plan option. Your customer can upgrade their product, bundle accessories with their order, or choose add-on products if they know they can stretch out their payments. Adding a payment plan option has been found to increase AOV by 20-30% for e-commerce purchases.
- Higher browser conversion: Your goal is to sell products. To do this on your site, means you need high cart conversion rates. A conversion rate is the percentage of your shoppers who go from browsing to purchasing. Adding a payment plan increases the likelihood of your shopper staying with your site all the way through the checkout process.
- Reduced cart abandonment: Similar to high browser conversion, adding a payment plan option for your shopper means less abandoned carts for your. This means your shopper added an item to their cart, but for whatever reason, they decide not to complete their purchase. Your shoppers can abandon their carts for a number of reasons, but not having flexible payment options doesn’t have to be one.
- Higher shopper loyalty: Adding an installment payment plan option for your shopper is one of the many ways to increase customer loyalty in an increasingly competitive retail environment.
- Reduces returns: Returned merchandise continues to plague retailers around the globe. There are measured steps you can take to reduce the amount of returns, from implementing a detailed return policy to offering payment plan options. When a shopper has an item on a payment plan, the return rate tends to be lower.
- Positive exposure for the business: We all know word travels faster these days, thanks to the internet and social media. When a shopper has a positive experience with your Shopify store, including the payment process, you increase your likelihood of positive reviews. And don’t forget, some shoppers choose a merchant simply based on if they offer an installment payment plan option or not.
There are a multitude of benefits for you and your shopper when it comes to offering the right payment method. Now it’s time to choose the right one for your business.
Choosing the right Shopify payment apps for your business
You have a Shopify site and you’re ready to review your Shopify payment apps options. Which ones do you choose?
Choosing the payment app
First, locate the list of available payment apps. You do this by going to the Shopify app store, and searching “payments.” A list of available payment apps shows up. You’ll notice right away some apps are free, while others are offering a free trial.
But when it comes to choosing the best Shopify app for installment payments, the price per month or free trial isn’t the only factor to pay attention to.
When choosing an installment payment solution for your shopper, there are several key factors to review, including:
- Does the payment app allow your shopper to make partial payments?
- What are the payment plan terms for your shopper?
- Does the payment plan work with the shopper’s existing credit card, or is an additional credit check required?
- What is the application process and fees for your shopper?
- What fees, including late fees, does your shopper incur?
- Does the solution allow for custom payment plans and the flexibility to choose over how many months the payments will be made?
As a merchant, consider the following for your business as you choose a payment plan app:
- What point of sale support is offered?
- Is there a free trial associated with the app?
- What does it cost per month to use this app?
- Review the marketing assets, such as:
- Shopper insights
- Campaign analytics
- Integrating the messaging easily on your site (drive awareness that a payment plan is available)
- Are there other marketing support materials available to showcase your app?
- App messaging for your social media pages (let your followers know you have payment plan options for their convenience)
- Email messaging
- Website banners
- Detailed pages for your website with payment plan information
- How much time is added to the checkout process by integrating this payment app?
- Ideally, whether your shopper is on a desktop or mobile, choosing a payment plan should require only one click. The less amount of clicks your shopper has to make, the smoother the payment process.
Popular Shopify payment apps
Popular options for Shopify payment apps include:
- Affirm: This Shopify payment app option requires a credit check and application from your shopper. But this also means Affirm reports the payment information to the credit bureaus, which may be a concern for your shopper. Depending on the parameters set by the merchant, payment options range from three to six months.
- Klarna: This option is also available in several countries and offers three choices for payment plans including four interest-free monthly installments financing (0 to 29.99% based on credit rating), or pay in full in 30 days.
- Splitit: Splitit is an interest-fee installment plan solution for your shoppers that works with their existing credit cards. Since your shoppers have already set up their credit card, this means no applications or unnecessary credit checks. Depending on which plan the merchant offers, shoppers can choose installment payment options up to 12 months.
Of course there are other payment alternatives for your Shopify store, such as Amazon Pay, Google Pay, and PayPal. These payment methods all have pros and cons for your shoppers, but do not necessarily add a pay-over-time option at checkout.
As you can see, there are several considerations, and choices, when it comes to adding the right payment app to your site. Choosing the best payment option takes research and understanding your shopper’s expectations.
Conclusion
Choosing the right installment payment app for your Shopify store takes careful consideration. There are many considerations to make, both for your shopper and your business. Ultimately, choose the one that adds most value to your shoppers shopping experience, and payment apps that offer your business marketing and merchandising tools. After all, not only do you want to offer the best Shopify payment apps on your website, but you need to let your shoppers know you have payment options available too.