Blogging 101: Adding an on-line store

With Africa rising, more and more people are moving to online shopping, in South Africa specifically. A big source of traffic to my site has been the various online stores and platforms that I sell some of my handiwork on. Should you choose to run your own store Shopify and WooCommerce from WooThemes that works on the WordPress platform are both worth investigating. Setting up an online shop might seem like a daunting task, but is actually easier than it seems, with many tutorials available online.

Choosing the right payment platforms for your store is also something that needs to be considered. Although a lot of people stick to receiving EFT’s on their online stores, I have found that a lot of the sales get lost. Allowing the customer to pay there and then for their order reduces this possibility. Building convenience is more than just delivering the product, it’s also considering how your clients pay.

Which payments options should you offer?
Using a good and trusted payment method takes the headache away from both a technology and security perspective. It is near impossible for you as an individual to be on top of the latest trends in your industry and also try to keep up with the latest security when it comes to your customers making payments and transmitting sensitive banking information over the internet. A good payment gateway company does this on your behalf. They handle all the payments in a secure way without you having to worry about the rest. None of the sensitive data is stored on your website.

PayPal’s Express Checkout
PayPal’s Express Checkout offers a shorter checkout process for online payments, compared to traditional checkout processes. This PayPal product eliminates one of the major causes of checkout abandonment by giving buyers a faster and easier checkout process in as little as three steps, because the buyer’s entire financial and delivery information is already stored in their account and doesn’t needs to be retyped for each payment.

Online shoppers appreciate the convenience and security of PayPal, where they can pay with their PayPal balance, debit or credit card, knowing their financial details are not shared with the seller.

PayPal Invoicing
With PayPal you can also easily generate invoices, you only need your customers email address to email an invoice. Payment for them is as easy as clicking the payment button inside the email to pay you with their card or PayPal balance. Once payment is made, the funds will appear in your PayPal account within minutes.

Why choose Paypal?
PayPal has more than 173 million active accounts around the world and has reached over 1 million accounts in South Africa. Their mobile-optimised checkout offers a faster, simpler and more convenient shopping experience on smartphones, tablets and desktops.

I personally make use of PayPal for international payments for my products as it is easy to use for both me and the customer. The funds paid reflect in my PayPal account almost instantaneously and are easily accessible. Paypal is also a widely recognised platform for payment on craft stores like Etsy.Com that I frequent.

How to get more information and sign up for a merchant account?
This process is quick and easy to do and best of all – FREE to sign up! Just visit their website and follow the prompts to open your business account. There are no monthly fees for merchants as all fees are transaction based (only for successful transactions). The terms are disclosed on their website and they have an excellent support team that is ready to assist with possible queries.

Have questions? Contact PayPal

Disclaimer
This is a sponsored post as per our standard disclaimers and disclosures.

 

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