Did you start an online business in the past year? Good for you! With the rise of the pandemic, millions of people worldwide have become self-employed entrepreneurs by starting their businesses online. Many people have been able to sell things that would’ve been too niche to make returns before, like specialized jewelry, art prints, and even pottery art!
All these developments have been fantastic, but if you’re an online business owner yourself, you know how hard it can be to expand. Sometimes you can feel stuck in a rut, especially when you’re constantly getting comments from people on social media telling you that they wished they could support you but live overseas, or they don’t use your same currency!
Don’t worry; we are here to help! Online businesses can significantly benefit by adding a global payment processor to their websites since it allows them to expand their customer base worldwide.
Do you want to learn how? Well, here are five essential features you need to take into account if you want to start using a global payment processor.
- Speak The Language (Literally)
The tricky thing about international e-commerce is something that you’ve probably already guessed: language barriers. While English is spoken at least as a second language worldwide, some people have difficulty understanding it, especially when it’s not their native language. This type of confusion can increase tenfold when dealing with an online purchase since they don’t want to lose money by accidentally buying something they don’t want.
As you can see, language detection and conversion is a crucial feature you have to look for when shopping for a global payment processor. The numbers can back this up as well. A survey conducted recently on consumers from ten different non-English speaking nations said that 73% of them prefer to buy things from websites written in their native tongue, and more than half of them would never buy from only English-speaking websites.
Therefore, if you want to engage these customers, you have to learn to speak their language!… literally.
- Not All Currencies Are Made Equal
If you didn’t have the pleasure of being born in a third-world country, then you probably don’t know the stress of having to try to memorize how to do decimal conversions in your head.
It’s true! Many currencies represent a fraction of a dollar; therefore, when people living abroad see the final cost in dollars, they tend to get scared or confused because they can’t make the conversion in their heads. According to another study, 17% of customers claim abandoned shopping carts because they could not calculate the final cost.
It is essential that any global processor that you get converts both the language and the currency of the user as quickly and accurately as possible. That way, international customers will feel more relaxed when shopping at your online store, which means more revenue for you.
- Let Them Pay How They’re Used To
Support for international payment methods is an essential part of any global payment processor. Big card brands are a thing of the past. Nowadays, most consumers (especially international ones) prefer paying with cash vouchers, e-wallets, and bank transfers. E-wallets are especially important since tons of people, mainly internationally, use them for everyday purchases.
The same survey we mentioned before found that 7% of customers abandon their carts at checkout because they can’t use the payment method they usually do. This is why adopting a more comprehensive range of payment methods is essential to growing your business.
- Work With Banks Worldwide
It may surprise you but working with banks worldwide helps reduce false positives and declines from international transactions. It means fewer angry customer emails for you to read and more glowing customer reviews to fill your inbox.
Working with international banks is essential for any online business to grow since it helps them work with an online market. It is also a significant step in growing as a brand. Many people who live in countries abroad use bank transactions to pay for everything since it’s easy and convenient. In other words, working with offshore banks offers you the opportunity to make payment of goods faster and more effective than ever before.
It also helps to improve your image since working with world-renowned banks makes international customers see you as a trustworthy source. Many people who live abroad are afraid of getting scammed online, so seeing that you work with a bank they’ve known for years dramatically increases their confidence in you! Not to mention, it increases the chances of raising the number of purchases.
Another survey found that 17% of people abandon their online carts because they don’t trust the website to handle their personal information safely, and they’re probably right to be wary. Nowadays, there are plenty of online scams, and giving all your information to an unfamiliar business can be risky.
Introducing renowned banks will also help increase customer satisfaction since many cards tend to be rejected at the time of purchase by not working with international banks. So, if you want to increase your revenue, a global payment processor that can link you to foreign banks is the way to go.
- Protect Yourself Against Fraud
Alright, we’ve talked plenty about customers and how to satisfy their needs, but let’s talk about you for a second. While international trade can be a new and exciting way to grow your business, it can also leave you vulnerable and exposed to international hackers. So, how can you protect yourself against this new enemy? The best way to do that is to find a global processor with global network-based feud protection built in. This will protect you from foreign hackers while keeping your customers safe, too!
Conclusion
Owning an online business can be exhilarating, heartbreaking, and rewarding all at the same time. You have independence and many benefits when you are your boss, but that freedom comes with responsibility. So, be conscientious by finding a suitable global payment processor and help your business grow!
