Choosing an adequate payment gateway will be one of the most crucial choices you will make when establishing your Shopify store. It not only influences the way you receive payments, but it also has a direct impact on customer confidence, conversion, transactional costs, and your international market coverage. When it comes to payment gateways in Shopify, there are enough options to get confused in mind. This guide will explain to you what a payment gateway is, how it works on Shopify, and the best one to select depending on your business objectives.
What is a Payment Gateway?
A payment gateway is an online service program that facilitates payment between your customers and your bank safely through credit card, debit card, UPI, wallet, and even more. It can be considered the online version of a point-of-sale (POS) machine at a real shop.
On Shopify, everything is done with your payment gateway, such as taking money through the payment button on your product page and depositing the money into your account once a transaction is made. In the absence of a good payment gateway, customers are not able to make payments, and your store cannot gain.
Why Payment Gateways Matter for Shopify Stores
Your payment gateway will determine how well or not your e-commerce establishment is received. The effortless and safe checkout motivates buyers to make their transactions. Conversely, in cases of the process being confusing, untrusted payment methods, and hidden costs, several customers will abandon their cart.
In addition, various gateways provide varied payment methods, currencies, settlement frequency, transaction charges, and fraud security. A correct decision would better your cash flow, reduce fees, and open your store to your audience, no matter whether you sell to the locals or to the world.
Shopify’s Native Option: Shopify Payments
Built-in payment gateway is called Shopify Payment and is active in most countries, such as the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and several regions in Europe. It makes it easier because the gateways do not have to be linked to third parties.
Some of the advantages of Shopify Payments are:
- Seamless integration
- No other forex transaction cost (other than card processing charges)
- Order and payments in real-time monitoring
- Multiple currency support
Nevertheless, Shopify Payments is not accessible in some countries, including India, which implies that third-party payment providers need to be used by the merchants in these countries.
Best Payment Gateways for Shopify in India
There are reputable and common payment gateways that Shopify supports in case you are an Indian merchant. Some of the best options are as follows:
1. Razorpay
In India, Razorpay is one of the well-trusted payment gateway providers. It offers a lot of payment options such as credit/debit cards and UPI, net banking, and wallets.
Pros:
- Shopify fast installation
- Competitive charges in transactions
- Immediate form of settlements
- Smart dashboards and smart analytics
- It is suitable for startups and SMEs
2. PayU
Another popular gateway service is PayU, which is characterized by speed and a high percentage of successful transactions.
Pros:
- Several forms of payment are encouraged.
- Has PayU Money and PayU Biz services
- Automatic Shopify integration
- Dynamics cycles in settlements
3. Cashfree
Cashfree is an innovative company with low-cost transactions. It is an effective choice when a merchant is concerned with faster settlement.
Pros:
- Real-time payments
- Vendor or refund payout feature
- Bulk payments and Subscription
- Customizable checkout
4. CCAvenue
CCAvenue is relatively old, and it accepts more than 200 payment options.
Pros:
- Multilingual checkout
- Each accepts EMI, wallets, UPI, and net banking.
- Fraud detection + high security
- A household name in the Indian market
Global Payment Gateways for International Sales
When you are focusing on international shoppers, you must provide internationally recognized methods of payment. These are some of the best ones:
1. PayPal
PayPal is a payment whose worldwide trust is assured. It would suit best when it comes to businesses that target customers in the US, UK, Canada, Europe, etc.
Pros:
- Endorsed by global consumers
- Safe and quick payments
- Instead of several clicks to complete by PayPal users, there is PayPal checkout, one-click payments.
- Buyer protection
Note: PayPal has a bit higher transaction fee and currency conversion rates, thus consider them when setting product prices.
2. Stripe
Stripe is a strong and dynamic payment gateway, and it facilitates companies in more than 40 countries. Currently, it is not accessible to any Indian businesses, but perfect in case you use Shopify from countries where it is supported.
Pros:
- Clean APIs and robust developer tools
- Fraudulent complexity detection
- According to the share subscription and tailor-made checkout
- Transparent pricing
Key Factors to Consider When Choosing a Shopify Payment Gateway
The selection of a payment gateway within a Shopify store is based on a number of factors. This is what you have to remember:
1. Target Market
In the case of Indian customers, pay great attention to the support of UPI, net banking, and wallets. In case your audience is international, you need to have a gateway that supports international cards and international currencies.
2. Transaction Fees
All the gates charge processing fees (generally 1.5% to 3.5% per transaction). Look at the pricing of gateways, including other costs or additional charges to pay every month, before making a final decision.
3. Settlement Time
Some gateways settle payment in 1-2 days, and there are gateways that take 3-5 days. Reducing settlements to a shorter time is beneficial to cash flow, particularly to a small business.
4. User Experience
One page, mobile-friendly, and fast checkout gateways decrease cart abandonment. The experience is improved by custom brand names, language selection, and saved payment cards.
5. Shopify compatibility
Official support is offered on numerous gateways by Shopify. Select the one with integrated plugins or proven integration into Shopify to prevent technical problems of installation.
How to Set Up a Payment Gateway on Shopify
It is very easy to set up your payment gateway on Shopify:
- Open Settings > Payments on your Shopify Admin side.
- Choose the payment provider (for example, Razorpay, PayU, PayPal).
- Enter API keys or tie your merchant account by following the instructions.
- Test and make a live transaction.
- Give options to pay through a variety of ways.
Before setting up the gateway, ensure that you have a business bank account, a GST, and the supporting documentation.
Final Thoughts
Your payment gateway is not a mere technical detail, but an important action in the shopping path of your customer. Easy and safe checkout creates a sense of trust, increases conversions, and makes your Shopify shop flourish.
You can be a startup with Indian customers to serve or an e-commerce brand with worldwide customers, when it comes to selecting your Shopify payment gateway then it is best that you make the correct choice as this would take your business forward and profitably. Analyze your requirements, examine features and select the solution according to your vision.
You can even merge several payment gateways when your store will grow large enough to serve various kinds of customers. Therefore consider carefully, your success begins at the checkout.
