The last few decades have had the financial world undergo profound digital evolution with the payments landscape significantly impacted. As a result, there has been an influx of financial products with top projects like cryptocurrencies expanding their services to other niches.
Today, cryptocurrencies (or digital currencies) are creating a lot of buzz in the financial transactions niche with the introduction of the concept of decentralized digital payment options.
Alhough their nature is set to generate trust in payments, their anonymous nature makes crypto a difficult sometimes, but yet attractive option for e-commerce websites.
In the article, we explore the benefits of online-shopping with Bitcoin and other crypto, as well as how they can boost the conversion rates of your site.
Why Cryptocurrency?
Cryptocurrencies came to be an alternative payment method and they have disrupted the existing traditional payment landscape. In line with this goal, they are decentralized in their nature.
Digital currencies are backed by Blokchain technology and they are not dependent on Central authorities which cannot control their flow. Today, the use of Bitcoin, Ethereum and other digital currencies is not controlled by any entity.
Beyond this, their underlying technology gives them the integrity of fast, immutable and scalable transactions. Transactions here are verified on a network by the users and are recorded in the form of digital public ledger.
The verification of payments is made possible by layers of encryption that are incorruptible. This means that unlike traditional transactional models, payment in cryptocurrency is made to be fast, safe and transparent.
Why Crypto Payments Should be Used on E-commerce Websites
With the advancement of digital technology, online shopping sites are becoming popular. As such, there is a high demand for scalable and transparent means of transactions – which is why a relationship between e-commerce and Blockchain technology should be explored.
Here, we provide you with the benefits of establishing a crypto-friendly e-commerce platform as an online merchant.
- Transaction Fees
Dealing with relatively high transaction fees is one of the major challenges of traditional and centralized payment methods. Enabling payment in cryptocurrency allows for lower or practically no transaction fees due to the nature of their underlying technology.
Transactions here take place directly, from merchant to buyer, with no middlemen disrupting payments processing. However, it is essential to note that fees paid with cryptocurrencies range from merchant to merchant and are also based on their methods of storage and transfer.
For instance, rates on transferring funds from personal digital wallets will differ from transferring or paying from exchange-based wallets.
- Broader Customer Reach
According to some data, nearly 69% of the world’s population is not part of the banking system. Cryptocurrencies were created to foster financial inclusion. With Bitcoin seemingly gaining more traction, accepting it or other digital currencies is a mode of expanding the customer base and enabling higher conversion rates.
Businesses today are doing everything they can to differentiate their services while setting new ways of reaching out to a broader audience by offering them a customized and flexible experience. One way of providing your customers with this experience is by giving them flexibility in payment options.
Online stores like Shopify and Shopify Plus have enabled crypto-based checkout options: customers can pay with cryptocurrency when necessary. Though not fully supporting crypto payments, they allow their customers to pay with Bitcoin on Amazon – through redeemable gift cards.
So, enabling a broad variety of transactional choices like crypto, is a good way to generate more engagement on e-commerce sites.
- Safety and Anonymity
One of the major factors influencing the expansion of e-commerce is the element of trust. Due to the advancement of digital technology, cyber threats are getting more sophisticated and as such, online transactions are faced with high levels of risks.
Thanks to the immutability of Blockchain technology, crypto transactions are transparent and most safe. With traditional payment methods, visitors and consumers on e-commerce websites are susceptible to fraud or other security breaches.
This is due to the fact that consumers on such websites have to submit details for transactions. While some websites do their best to protect the customers’ interest, these details run the risk of being exploited for malicious purposes.
Cryptocurrency transactions basically require keys with barely any identification details. Shopping with Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies allows users to transact with anonymity and transparency.
The structure of cryptocurrencies is such that security breaches based on transactions are minimal provided the user or buyer is careful with the private and public keys of the wallet holding the funds.
- Faster Processing
Besides marketing, scalability is one of the most important factors of a good customer engagement and experience. Cryptocurrency payment methods on e-commerce websites provide the site with integrity of transactions.
Crypto transactions take seconds or in some cases minutes depending on the cryptocurrency involved. Regardless, when customers pay with cryptocurrency, they get to enjoy relatively seamless transactional speed.
- Transparency and Immutability
While existing centralized payment models have been proven credible when it comes to meeting demands, chargebacks still remain an underlying issue. E-commerce websites that accept crypto as a payment means gain a competitive edge by solving this issue.
Crypto transactions are designed to be majorly initiated by the buyer when necessary, unlike credit card payments which require that your details be submitted for automatic processing. As such, charges and payments are controlled solely by the customer.
Also, Blockchain technology is built with transparency as its foundation. Transactions on the blockchain can only be added and not changed. Hence, payments reversal is impossible.
- Ease of Transactions
One of the basic advantages of accepting crypto payments is their uncomplicated design. Bitcoin is relatively easy to use and integrate on sites. It is essential to have an underlying knowledge of its technology and mode of operation, but, nevertheless, setting up a crypto shopping site improves your rate of engagement.
Luckily, NOWPayments and other crypto payment gateways are making it easy for e-commerce websites to use this method. Bitcoin shopping sites can be easily set up through plug-ins and other integration tools.
Furthermore, single-click cryptocurrency payment method integrations make payment easier on websites. This explicitly improves customer conversion rates especially with international clients.
Bottom Line
Cryptocurrencies are becoming the typical go-to in the world of financial investments and payment. With their positive advancement mainstream, setting up crypto payments methods for an e-commerce website owner is one of the best ways to foster engagement.
It is, however, essential to understand the intricacies associated with the world of crypto transactions before choosing to implement them as a payment means.