As an e-commerce owner, you are always looking to find an edge over your competitors, draw in more prospects, and convert those prospects to leads. As well as fine-tuning your marketing campaigns and ensuring your storefront is fresh and sleek, you should also consider payment options.
Cryptocurrency was introduced in 2009, with the launch of Bitcoin. Today, there are thousands of different cryptocurrencies with new coins and tokens available for early buyers. Crypto writer Michael Graw says new crypto tokens are launching virtually every day. While many of these cryptocurrencies have specific use cases, such as paying for the use of a blockchain ledger, they can also be traded at exchanges, held in wallets, and spent at online stores. Accepting crypto does pose some new challenges for e-commerce stores, but it also offers a host of advantages.
Increase Market Size
There are an estimated 560 million cryptocurrency users worldwide and crypto payments are expected to reach $1.7 billion by next year. Despite this, most stores and businesses still don’t accept cryptocurrency, which means users are desperate for ways to spend their digital currency.
By accepting crypto payments, e-commerce store owners can increase the size of their potential market significantly.
It's Easier Than You Think
Crypto users are under-served. Most physical businesses, and many online businesses, steer clear of crypto because they are worried about price volatility or because they are unsure of how to accept the payment method.
However, there are payment gateways that not only enable the acceptance of cryptocurrency, but they instantly convert crypto to fiat, negating the sharp price changes. You will barely notice the difference between accepting card payments and taking crypto.
Gain A Loyal Customer Base
Many crypto holders struggle to find ways to spend their cryptocurrency. When they do find a retailer or business that accepts the likes of Bitcoin, they tend to stick to those businesses.
The crypto crowd is loyal, which means you can win repeat business and reap continued profits by accepting this innovative payment method.
Offer More Choice
Choice is good for ecommerce businesses and this includes payment options. Cryptocurrency hasn’t taken over the financial world yet, but offering the choice of crypto payments will help convert some wavering prospects so you can squeeze more profit from every marketing dollar.
A good payment gateway will accept Bitcoin, but it will also accept Ethereum, Litecoin, Dogecoin, and a host of other altcoins.
Targeted Marketing Opportunities
Because there are so many cryptocurrency users looking for ways to spend their Bitcoin and altcoins, this presents a marketing opportunity to take advantage of.
You can specifically target cryptocurrency-related search terms and keywords, promote your products on crypto websites, and improve your marketing campaigns. Because crypto users are loyal, they will even help the marketing process by recommending your site and leaving positive reviews.
Reduce Transaction Fees
Card payments have notoriously high charges for the retailer, and you can face costs of up to 3% on credit card transactions. Even bank transfers and digital wallets attract fees of up to 2%.
In contrast, some cryptocurrency payments have costs of less than 1% of the total transaction fee. Cryptocurrency payments enable you to keep more of the money you make and maximize your profit levels.
Reduce Transaction Times
Another problem with credit card payments is how long they can take to complete. Bank processing times, verification procedures, and other factors can lead to payments taking several days or even weeks before you gain access to the funds.
Cryptocurrency payments typically complete in a matter of minutes, with many taking fractions of a second. And that includes international payments.
Enhance Security
Cryptocurrency payments use advanced cryptographic techniques to offer secure payments. Payments are virtually impossible to divert and because blockchain records are immutable, they are also resistant to fraud, improving security for you and your users.
Online shoppers take security seriously, so offering an additional layer of security can help win them over.
Take Payments From Anywhere
International payments take time to process, and they typically attract higher charges than payments from the same country. But that isn’t true with cryptocurrency, which offers borderless payments.
Even if your client is in a different continent to you, the payment will complete in seconds and the charges levied against the payment remain small.
Eliminate Unnecessary Chargebacks
Chargebacks are the bane of many online stores. Buyers can initiate chargebacks for virtually any reason, and while many of those reasons are legitimate, chargeback fraud is estimated to cost US merchants alone more than $200 billion. Depending on your merchant account’s chargeback policy, you could be charged as much as $100 per chargeback transaction.
Cryptocurrency payments are immutable. If your customer has a legitimate reason to get their money back, you can initiate a new payment, but you won’t be subject to chargeback fraud or the excessive rates associated with automatic chargebacks.