How to Offer Multiple Payment Methods on WooCommerce

Want to offer customers multiple payment methods on WooCommerce? 

If so, you’re on the right track. Offering customers multiple payment methods is something consumers have come to expect. If you’re offering a certain payment method and a rival is not it may help you win more customers. 

Figuring out exactly how to include all the payment methods you want in WooCommerce can be a little tricky, though. Fortunately, this post is here to help. We explain the various payment methods available on the platform and how to start accepting them.

The Benefits Of Offering Multiple Payment Methods

Offering multiple payment methods brings a host of benefits. 

• Attract New Customers: Adding new payment methods is a powerful tool for converting stubborn leads. Your ecommerce site may have a list of prospects who regularly visit but don’t want to convert because they can’t pay using their preferred method. New options, such as cryptocurrency payments, can address this.
• Retain Existing Customers: Customers want payment choices. 40.4 per cent said that the ability to use a preferred payment method when shopping online was something they wanted to see. 
• Minimize Cart Abandonment: Payment options deal with the problem of cart abandonment, too. For instance, suppose a customer doesn’t have money in their regular checking account. In this case, they may want to use a credit card to pay. If you don’t offer credit card payments, they can’t check out.
• Higher Conversion Rates: Lastly, adding more payment methods improves conversion rates. When the process is seamless, it encourages customers to take the final step and pay. 

What payment options should you offer?

As a general rule, the more payment options you offer, the better. Customers want choice, so giving it to them helps you stand out among the competition. 

Before you start adding multiple payment options, check out what your rivals offer. See if you can offer all their payment options, plus a couple more. Usually, they’ve already researched all the most popular payment methods for you. 

You should also try to find out which payments your customers prefer. You can do this using a WordPress feedback plugin. Customers simply fill out a couple of fields, letting you know how they would like to pay. 

Lastly, you should offer multicurrency payments if you sell in multiple regions around the globe. Customers prefer to see prices in their own currencies because they anticipate lower fees and because they are more intuitive. They are used to seeing prices in their own currencies. 

Payment Options

There are four payment categories that you will want to consider. 

Credit Card

Credit cards are the most popular way to pay for goods online. That’s because credit cards are almost ubiquitous. 

You should include credit card payments as a priority. In 2020, 57 percent of all payments were made with credit, debit, or prepaid cards. 

They also improve the user experience and cart abandonment rates. If customers see a credit card option, it makes them feel confident about buying from you. They may also have auto-fill stored on their browser, allowing them to fill out all their details with a single click. 

Store owners can accept credit card payments using the WooCommerce Payments plugin, a payment processing platform built for WordPress websites with the WooCommerce plugin. Here’s what to do:

1. To install the WooCommerce plugin, go to Plugins>> Add New on your WordPress dashboard. 
2. Search for WooCommerce Payments
3. Click the WooCommerce Payments box and then select the Install Now option
4. When ready, click Activate.

Once you’ve done that, you’ll need to sign up for WooCommerce Payments. To do this: 

1. Go to Payments >> Finish Setup.
2. Enter the email address to connect to your WordPress account.
3. Enter your business details with WooCommerce’s payment partner, Stripe.

Once your account is verified, you can start accepting credit card payments. 

You can also install over 84 other payment plugins from different providers, such as Amazon, Stripe, and so on. Most plugins require you to add payment options manually and depends on the plug you use. 

You can also configure how your payment gateway appears. This step is usually the last. You can select things like where your checkout button appears, which payment method icons you want to include, what your checkout icon looks like (e.g. a basket), and so on. 

To do this: 

1. Go to Payments >> Settings on your WordPress dashboard.
2. Check the Enable WooCommerce Payments box.

If you want to customize the appearance of your checkout button, go to Settings and then scroll down to the Express checkouts section. Click the Customize link for further options.

Crypto

Cryptocurrency payments are becoming more popular as the network of consumers using them grows. With that said, only a handful of ecommerce stores accept them. Therefore, if you offer them as an option, you can potentially get ahead of the curve and win more business. 

Accepting cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, Solana, and Ether, brings significant benefits for merchants. These include the ability to reduce fraud, slash transaction costs, and reach international customers. 

Again, you can easily accept cryptocurrency payments using WooCommerce plugins. Here we give the example of CoinGate. 

1. Register for a free CoinGate account on the company’s website. You’ll need to create a business account to access all the API and payment features. 
2. Install the CoinGate plugin and set it up. To do this, go to WooCommerce >> Settings >> Payments and then click the “Set up” button in the bottom right of the page. 
3. Enter your CoinGate API Auth Token. You should receive this when you set up your account. 
4. Configure how the payment gateway operates. For instance, you can choose how text appears, what currencies you want to accept payments in, and so on. 
5. Set up your CoinGate API key. To set up your CoinGate API key, go to your CoinGate account and click Merchant >> API >> Apps>> New App. Here, you can configure exactly how your payment form will appear to customers.

Credit Notes

Credit notes can turn a negative customer experience into a positive one. Credit notes are proof of store credit that ecommerce sites issue to customers. Customers can then redeem them in stores that issue them, letting them make purchases without spending additional money.

Because of this, credit notes are a little different from the payment methods discussed so far. They are a method that your business uses to credit a customer account but limit them to spend with you. 

There are several situations in which you might want to issue a credit note. These include: 

• When customers received invoices for a higher amount than previously agreed
• When customers try to order out-of-stock items 
• When customers downgrade their subscriptions and you want to compensate them for the remaining time they paid for at the higher rate

Payment Processing Platforms

The last option is to use payment processing platforms like Stripe, PayPal, Square, or Amazon Pay. These are among the most international payment gateways for WooCommerce. They’re easy to set up, and you can manage them on the checkouts tab in WooCommerce settings. 

The range of payment methods you can accept is extensive. WooCommerce accepts check payments, cash on delivery, and the gateways mentioned above. 

Stripe is one of the most trusted internet payment companies in the world. It provides the background banking infrastructure to facilitate online transactions. 

To use Stripe in your payment gateway (and benefit from all the functionality it offers): 

1. Download the Stripe app at WordPress.org and install it
2. Go to WooCommerce Settings >> Checkout >> Stripe
3. Click Enable Stripe checkbox
4. Enter your Live Publishable Key and Live Secret Key
5. Click Save

WooCommerce will then add Stripe functionality to your payment gateway so that you start accepting payments via the brand. 

To use PayPal’s Express Checkout Payment Gateway:

1. Download the PayPal gateway from WordPress.org and install it. 
2. Go to WooCommerce Settings >> Checkout >> PayPal Express Checkout
3. Click Setup or link an existing PayPal account. This will automatically fill out your API credentials. You can also do it manually if you prefer. 
4. Click Enable PayPal Express Checkout checkbox at the top of the form
5. Save changes

It’s a similar process for the other payment gateways, Square and Amazon Pay. Choose the gateway with the right feature set for your customers. 

How To Customize Your WooCommerce Store Checkout

WooCommerce gives you the option to customize your checkout page to maximize conversions and align with your brand. By default, it lumps all payment methods together. But this approach might overwhelm customers and cause them to abandon their carts. Ideally, you want to separate payment methods, reduce visual clutter, and only display relevant information. 

Fortunately, you can customize checkout pages pretty easily. 

1. On your WordPress site’s dashboard, click Appearance >> Customize. Then click the WooCommerce tab on the Customize page. 
2. Click Checkout
3. Adjust the fields as you see fit.

The best policy here is to hide as many irrelevant or unhelpful checkout fields as you can. This process simplifies the checkout process and displays only the essentials. 

Conclusion

In summary, customers want you to offer them more payment options. Doing so puts you at a competitive advantage. 

We learned that adding them in WooCommerce was pretty simple. In most cases, you just need to download the plugin and activate it from your dashboard. 

Don’t make your checkout process too complex, though. Refine it for your audience’s needs.