According to data gathering platform Statista, the number of cryptocurrency users worldwide is expected to reach around 860 million by 2025. This continued growth of users who are buying, trading, or even just holding crypto coins shows just how prevalent this digital currency has become in today’s age. It then comes as no surprise that more businesses nowadays are looking into ways to integrate crypto into their operations—one of which is by starting to accept crypto payments in their online stores.
If you’re running an e-commerce site for your business, consider onboarding crypto as one of your payment options. In the long run, this move can do a lot to bring in new customers as well as provide additional convenience for existing customers who may want to pay using their cryptocurrency funds. To get started with integrating crypto payments into your online store, here are some tips you should keep in mind:
1) Set Up Your Own Crypto Wallet
To understand how the transaction process would go for your customers, the first step is to activate your own crypto wallet. A crypto wallet is what allows one to receive, transfer, or store crypto coins. There are different types of crypto wallets; some are made for specific coins, such as an XMR wallet for Monero (XMR) coins, while some wallets are able to hold different crypto coins at once. Be sure to do your research beforehand to determine which wallet to get, aligning it with the type of cryptocurrency you expect to receive from your customers.
Another advantage of having a crypto wallet is that you enjoy lower transaction fees, or perhaps even none at all. This means that when a customer pays you with crypto, you’ll be able to save more by avoiding the high transaction fees that usually accompany other payment methods, such as international credit card transactions.
2) Choose a Trustworthy Crypto Payment Gateway
To allow your e-commerce store to start accepting crypto payments, you also need to onboard an appropriate payment gateway for your customers. Popular crypto payment gateways you can explore for your business are BitPay, CoinGate, Coinremitter, NOWPayments, and more. Most of these gateways can simply be onboarded to e-commerce sites as plugins, making their deployment quick and hassle-free.
When choosing a crypto payment gateway to use, carefully read the provider’s terms and take note of the features that each offers, for the purpose of determining which gateway will suit your business’s needs. Verify if the payment gateway is capable of accepting multiple kinds of crypto coins or if it’s only limited to a few. Check as well if the processing fee that the payment gateway charges is reasonable to you. Lastly, make sure that the payment gateway provider is able to extend deployment assistance and can promise continued support for when issues may arise.
3) Test the System Before Launch
Before fully launching your site’s new crypto payment functionality, take the time to test it out first. Simulate scenarios such as what would happen if the payment didn’t go through and observe details of the transaction, such as whether there’s any delay at all during the payment process.
Knowing all this beforehand allows you to confer with your payment gateway provider for adjustment or troubleshooting, if any is needed. You’ll be glad you tested the payment system beforehand if you can rest assured that the deployment, and consequently your customers’ transactions, will go as smoothly as possible.
4) Guide Your Customers
Once you’ve gotten your crypto payment gateway set up, it will be time to educate your customers on how to use it. First, make sure that customers are well aware that your e-commerce store has now started accepting crypto payments. This can be done through an announcement on your site or pointed out when they reach the checkout page.
Since there are various crypto coins out there, clarify as well which ones your store accepts. This helps avoid any misunderstandings with customers who may be using a crypto coin that isn’t compatible with your payment gateway.
You can also convey to your customers the advantages of using crypto for payments. Emphasize benefits such as low transaction fees, quick processing times, and added security and privacy. This may even convince the non-crypto users among your customer base to try this payment method out in the future.
5) Monitor Regularly for Improvement and Compliance
Even when you’ve got your crypto payment system up and running, make sure that you continue to monitor how well it’s working for your customers. How often is it being utilized during checkouts? Are there any complaints about the system so far? Knowing the answers to these questions can help you tweak and improve your current cryptocurrency integration to better suit your customers’ purchasing journeys.
Monitoring in this regard also includes keeping up with any cryptocurrency-related laws that may be passed in your location, as these can affect how you handle your crypto transactions. In addition, always check in with your payment gateway provider for any system updates to ensure the one you’re using for your e-commerce site is always up-to-date with the newest features and security patches.
Your acceptance of crypto payments on your e-commerce site not only offers a new way for your customers to pay you; it will likely also allow you to future-proof your business, considering that the number of crypto users will only grow from here on out. Deploy your new crypto payment system successfully with the help of the tips above, and enjoy the benefits that this new payment method can provide your business today.