Starting an Online Business All-in-One For Dummies®, 3rd Edition

Extending Payment Options to Virtual Customers

The goal of providing a variety of payments is to take away an obstacle that may prevent customers from buying from you. However, the increasing competition for online sales is forcing e-tailers such as yourself to always be on the lookout for new payment options.

For a list of vendors for your online business needs, check out the Internet Retailer vendor list, which includes many payment processing vendors, along with other valuable resource categories. You can check it out at www.internetretailer.com/vendors.

Whether customers purchase from your store or Web site or by e-mail or phone, the future of e-tailing comes down to two principles:

• Continually connect with your customers.
• Always give your customers options.

Buy now, pay later

Extended payment terms, deferred terms, or instant credit — call it what you like, this payment option is gaining popularity as an alternative online payment solution. This type of credit basically allows customers to delay paying cash out of their pocket at the time of purchase.

Deferred billing is the same as the offline promotion of “90 days same as cash.” Allowing customers to take advantage of this type of payment can truly help your business if you sell higher-end items or want to increase your per-customer average sale. Customers often seek out this option during the holiday season, when they're ...