Whether you’re selling handmade scarves, 3D-printed toothbrushes, or custom artwork, you need an eCommerce site with the power to process customer payments.
So, how do you add payment processing to a website? While the general process is pretty simple, the nitty-gritty work takes some in-depth technical expertise—and if you’re not a cybersecurity expert, an accountant, or a master web developer, the idea can seem daunting.
Electronic Merchant Systems has over 3 decades of payment processing experience under our belts. So, we’re here to teach you how to add payment processing to a website by defining some key terms, breaking down the entire process into six steps, and answering a few FAQs.
Before we get started, let’s define some key terms:
With definitions out of the way, let’s break down how to add payment processing to your eCommerce site.
Your website host may:
It’s crucial that you ask the host about any of the above before signing on the dotted line—ideally before you even choose your web host.
Once you know what your web host will allow, it’s time to choose a payment gateway for your eCommerce site. But, while you’re browsing, there’s another player to keep in mind—your website’s shopping cart software.
While they’re building your site, your web developer will likely use third-party software to build a shopping cart system that:
Keep in mind that your gateway of choice will also have to play nice with your shopping cart software—your web developer can help you choose a compatible gateway.
If you plan to accept credit and debit cards for purchases, you simply can’t do business without a merchant services provider. While shopping for a provider, ask them about:
Once you choose a provider, send them the information they’ll need to connect to your payment gateway.
Building an eCommerce store is the subject of many (much longer) articles, and it isn’t always a simple process. We recommend hiring a web developer for this process because:
Like the step above, we recommend entrusting your web developer with the task of adding payment methods to your site for a few reasons:
Your payment gateway should offer a method for testing the entire process top-to-bottom to make sure it works. During the testing process, make sure that all of the following work as expected:
And going forward, you should test the process if you make any changes to your gateway, web host, shopping cart software, or merchant services provider.
The process described above is (purposefully) general—each of the steps could take up an entire article. But let’s address some questions you likely have after reading through the procedure.
For the same reason that each of the above steps is described in limited detail, you probably want to hire experts for anything you don’t know how to do yourself when it comes to eCommerce—when you zoom in, it’s a complicated procedure.
Even if you think you can handle it after a few YouTube tutorials, you should probably still consider hiring these tasks out because:
The cost of your eCommerce site-building will depend on:
But remember that this will mostly constitute a one-time cost. Once your site is done, you’ll only need to perform software updates and regular maintenance.
Luckily, everyone you hire to help you build an eCommerce site can offer:
The top qualification you should look for in an expert is their experience—how many sites have they built? The more experience they have, the more knowledgeable your service provider will be about eCommerce sites that work.
Generally speaking, adding payment processing to your website is simple—but each phase in the process requires in-depth expertise, which is why we recommend consulting with experts as often as possible.
When it comes to expertise and experience in the merchant services sphere, no one bests Electronic Merchant Systems. We’re far from newcomers to eCommerce and credit card processing—we’ve been working with brands just like yours for over three decades.
We offer traditional merchant services but can also provide POS equipment, help you build loyalty programs, consult on surcharges and cash discounts, and so much more.
Our solutions are developed with your business—and your bottom line—in mind. Request a consultation to learn more about how we can help your business grow.
Click on the link below to check out our ultimate guide on How to Choose The Right Payment Processor for your business.