How to create the ultimate in person, online & over the phone payment system
The UK’s shopping habits are forever changing and developing, so it’s important your business moves with the trends to avoid falling behind.
How you take payments can make or break your business.
As customers continue to use new payment methods, it’s important you do everything you can to adapt.
You need to figure out how your customers prefer to pay and build your system around them - without limiting yourself to just one payment method.
Limiting how you take payments will damage your business in the long run.
Here’s everything you need to know about creating the ultimate in person, online and over the phone payment system.
What you need to take payments online
More people than ever are making online payments.
And who can blame them? They’re quick, simple and you don’t even have to leave the comfort of home.
Being able to take online payments is essential when making sure you’re more accessible to your customers.
We offer a few different options here at Handepay:
-
Payment gateway
This enables you to authorise card payments made online through a secure web page on your business’ website.
Your customers will be referred here once they click to start a transaction.
-
Virtual Terminal
Virtual terminals are online payment systems that allow you to facilitate payments through a device (laptops, tablets or any other device) with an internet connection.
Multiple users are allowed access at once to take payments from customers that aren’t present.
-
Pay by Link
With every payment gateway or virtual terminal at Handepay, you get free access at Handepay to pay by link.
This generates a secure link to send to customers either by email, social media or messaging systems and once it’s been clicked, they’re redirected to a payment page where they can complete the transaction.
Getting set up is easy; you’ll be taking online card payments in no time.
What you need to take payments in person
Card payments are the lifeblood of businesses.
It’s essential to have a simple, cost effective card machine provider on your side.
Nearly two thirds of shoppers (64%) now use contactless payment methods. Nearly half of those (48%) use digital wallets like Apple Pay, Samsung Pay and Google Pay.
So you need a contactless card machine that’s also to accept these digital payments, as well as debit and credit cards.
This could be a single, countertop card machine, a portable card machine so you can take payments to customers in store, or a combination of countertop and portable machines.
How you set up your in-store card machine payments will depend on the type of business you have and how you want to run your payments, but proper investigation will ensure you get the best set up.
What you need to take payments over the phone
While you might think that catalogue shopping is a thing of the past, retailers actually experienced an increase in shoppers buying over the phone, via a paper catalogue at the end of 2020.
Much of this is thought to be because of COVID-19 but it’s believed to be a trend consumers appreciated and even Argos which ended its main paper catalogue in 2020, produced a Christmas gift guide to take advantage of more customers turning to phone ordering.
To accept payments over the phone you’ll need to set up a Virtual Terminal.
This is a secure, web-based page that allows you to enter customer payment details so you can take payments.
It’s worth noting that this type of payment will be subject to Card not Present fees, which can be higher than general card transaction fees.
What can adding pay by link do to boost sales?
One of the most effective options when streamlining your payment processes online is to use pay by link methods.
They’re easy to integrate into your online eCommerce website, or any other channel you want to be your payment page.
With no face to face contact required, you can make your goods available and take payments 24 hours a day, 7 days a week - allowing you to reach more customers and expand your overall customer base, increasing your profits in turn.
How to integrate your payment systems to streamline your transactions
If you’re already accepting card payments in store, the things you need to start accepting payments over the phone don’t massively vary - all of our card machines can be used for transactions where cardholders aren't present.
You only need to set up a few more things to start accepting payments online and the process is quick and simple.
You’ll need either a virtual terminal, which can also be used for payments made over the phone, or a payment gateway, which will allow customers to complete transactions via your website.
With Handepay, you’ll get free access to pay by link, which will allow you to generate dedicated payment links to send to your customers by text, email, or social media.
Benefits of an integrated payment system
The more options you offer, the more customers you’ll be able to reach and the more credible your business will become.
You’ll be able to sell goods to your customers no matter if they’re at your shop, at home or on the go and they can pay however they want - as we mentioned before, shoppers love flexibility.
Integrated payment systems are also good for future proofing - if in person sales ever drop, for instance like we saw during the COVID-19 pandemic, you’ll have built an online presence to pick up the slack there.
With the UK’s shopping habits forever changing and new technologies developing, it’s important you keep up with trends so that your business doesn’t fall behind.
It all can be difficult enough to understand, without the added burden of hidden fees and expensive invoices, but at Handepay we make it simple.
For more information or to make an inquiry, get in touch with us today.