Marketplace eCommerce

Payments on Marketplace eCommerce Platforms

Updated November 7, 2022  |  5 min read

Once your customers have found exactly what they want at your marketplace, you don’t want anything to get in the way of purchasing. Your eCommerce marketplace platform made it easy for them to put items in their cart; now you need to create a simple path to finalize the transaction.

Payment pages might seem simple, but they can’t be an afterthought as you create or update an online marketplace. Let’s take a look at some of the finer points of guiding customers through the payment process and receiving payments on behalf of your sellers.

How To Guide Customers

You never want to distract customers when they’re on the payment screen. While there are dozens of ways to advertise and upsell while they’re on your marketplace, you never want to get in their way once they make the decision to purchase products. Any navigation away from a payments screen could distract them enough to abandon their cart.

Customers don’t want to be asked for any more information than absolutely necessary. In addition to the payment options we talk about below, filling out shipping address and billing address information should be fast and intuitive. Highly capable marketplace eCommerce software should be able to add address verification software from multiple carriers.

Tricky Balance

Setting up a payments page isn’t as easy as you might imagine. The complexity makes it vital for you to find a custom website developer that has the experience necessary to fine-tune it to your needs.

people adjusting payments page

Easy to Use

You never want to set up any blockers for your customers. When buyers reach the payment page, it’s important that it feels like a familiar experience for them. The biggest and best marketplace platforms in the world have spent years fine-tuning the checkout process, so it’s usually a good idea to take advantage of that research and model yours after the big players.

Industry-Specific Customization

Your payment pages won’t look exactly like every other website’s, of course. Some changes will be made to accommodate your company branding, while other alterations will be important for elements that are specific to your industry.  The industry you serve may need additional options added so that sellers can include additional information about the transaction.

Powerful and Flexible

The customization we just mentioned means that it’s unlikely you’ll be able to use SaaS or off-the-shelf software. Payment pages need to be able to do exactly what you need them to, and that means choosing an eCommerce marketplace platform that’s flexible enough to handle the powerful additions that are specific to your needs.

Flexible Payment Methods

The more payment methods you offer, the more customers you’ll retain. Offering only a single option—such as taking credit cards exclusively—can get in the way of some buyer workflows. For instance, if a company only uses credit cards for incidentals purchases and has never needed a high credit card limit, they won’t be able to purchase $100,000 worth of materials from your online marketplace. Similarly, some buyer’s employees may only be allowed to use POs but not credit cards.

Your payment options should be obvious and easy to differentiate, letting customers know immediately what payments you accept. The most common types of payment integrations include:

  • Credit Card
  • E-check
  • Invoice/PO
  • Digital Payment Service
  • Online Money Transfer
woman using tablet

Each type of payment will have its own logic, which means the page will make dynamic changes based on the payment method chosen. If a credit card is chosen, fields will appear for card number, expiration number, and CVV. If digital payment is chosen, a pop-up can prompt for a password. You can also keep this information in a customer’s wallet so that they don’t have to enter information each time they make a purchase.

Pro Tip

You don’t have to incorporate all payment methods at launch. Some types of payments have a threshold to meet—a minimum number of transactions, a minimum funds transfer—before you can implement them on your website.

You can incorporate the easiest payment methods at your marketplace’s launch, then add options as your platform grows.

Keep Customers Informed

Once the customers have clicked the Purchase button, the order is sent to your marketplace seller. This is an excellent time to inform the buyer of the next steps in the process.

  • Tracking Numbers – You won’t be able to provide a tracking number until the seller has created it with the shipping company. What you can do is let them know they should be receiving a tracking number within three days.
  • When Will They Be Charged – If a customer is being charged, it’s important to let them know when the charge goes through: at purchase, at shipment, or at delivery.
  • Name on Invoice or Charge – When you run a multi-vendor marketplace, you will have the option of charging customers directly or having sellers charge them. Letting customers know the name that shows up on their invoice or credit card statement will help prevent confusion and chargebacks.
  • Next Steps – Customers don’t want to hit the Purchase button and then be left in the dark. You can tell them about all of the above and any steps that they still need to take (such as a contact button to get in touch with the seller).

Working With Clarity

Clarity Ventures is dedicated to helping as many businesses as possible navigate the tricky world of marketplace eCommerce. Our platform is an excellent option to build or expand an online market website, powerful at launch and flexible for future expansion. We have dozens of articles on our site, as well as an eCommerce marketplace YouTube playlist.

We also offer a complimentary discovery session with members of our team to help you analyze your project from a technical and business point of view. We’ll put a plan together that you can use with us or take to another marketplace developer. Either way, we’re here to help you get started and help you dream big, so get in touch with us today.

 

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Author
 
Stephen Beer is a Content Writer at Clarity Ventures and has written about various tech industries for nearly a decade. He is determined to demystify HIPAA, integration, and eCommerce with easy-to-read, easy-to-understand articles to help businesses make the best decisions.