Not Investing in Merchant Services Can Cost You

The decision on whether or not to add credit card processing services to an online business’ site is driven by several factors,  one way to make the decision is by playing the “what if” game.

As in: “What if I (the Internet retailer) decide against the investment in credit card online processing? What will it cost me?”

Those are worthwhile questions. It is hard to put a hard-dollar figure on what the lack of merchant account services will mean to a business, but there are some facts that need to be weighed carefully.

Internet access into people’s homes grows by the day. As does their access at work. Not to mention from their mobile phone. And we’re talking about some form of high-speed access, which allows users to get the most from their browsing experience.

Not only are kids growing up with the Internet, as well as online shopping, but seniors are getting acclimated as well, meaning that ‘net usage is touching every demographic segment of society.

And the shopping patterns on the Internet have come mainstream. There was a time when it might have been a novelty, then morphed into a way to get hard-to-find or specialty items, but now people are procuring all kinds of everyday items from their computers.

The cumulative affect of all of the above is that the potential audience for online shopping is enormous and only gaining users by the day.

Fold into this the fact that when people shop online they want to use their credit cards. Paying that way offers speed and convenience, as well as a measure of buyer protection from most of the major card companies. People shopping with their credit card in hand are the majority.

And here is where the lack of credit card processing is going to cost a company. With all those people going online, with more and more people shopping online and with the majority using their credit cards to shop online any site that does not have a merchant account is going to stand out like a sore thumb.

Loyal customers become loyal customers because they get what they want from a retail entity – whether it be real-world or virtual. And one thing they are going to want in increasing numbers is the option to use their credit card. They want it so much that if you don’t have merchant services they are going assume something is less than trustworthy with your site.

So we’re back to the initial question – do you really want to have your site seen as less that legitimate because you don’t have credit card online processing. And what is it going to cost you when a shopper hits your site, only to realize after they have filled their shopping cart that you don’t accept cards?

Two things are likely to happen. One, they will zip to a site that gives them the payment options they want. Two, they will never be back.

And what does that cost? Still think you can’t afford credit card processing?