The Most Important Online Payment Methods for Your Webshop

Why the Right Online Payment Method Is Crucial

Selecting the right online payment methods is essential for the success of your webshop. Why? Because they influence not only the conversion rate but also the customer experience. If popular and trusted payment methods are missing, you risk abandoned purchases and lose potential customers. Therefore, it is important to choose the right providers and offer multiple options – we generally recommend three to five payment methods per shop. But what influences this selection? You should ask yourself the following questions:

• What products do I sell?
• How risky are these?
• Which countries do I sell to?
• Which payment methods are popular there?
• What are my competitors doing?

In the fashion sector, for example, purchase on account is indispensable. There is no simple answer to the question of which payment methods are ideal, as every shop has individual requirements. We show you what to look for when making your selection and which online payment methods should not be missing from your webshop!

The Most Important Standard Payment Methods

There are certain payment methods that should be offered in almost every webshop to provide customers with a familiar and convenient shopping experience:

• Credit cards: One of the most widely used payment methods worldwide, especially indispensable in international trade.
• PayPal: Particularly popular in the B2C sector due to its user-friendliness and high level of trust among customers. Payments can be made securely online using either PayPal balance or linked bank accounts and credit cards, without having to re-enter sensitive financial information for every purchase.
• Klarna: Especially popular in Europe for installment and invoice purchases, and a good option for offering flexible payment options. Klarna allows you to pay the invoice immediately, in installments, or at a later date.

These payment methods form the basis for a successful payment strategy, as they are expected by most buyers and strengthen trust in the purchase process. These payment options can be categorized into different payment categories.

The Classics: Credit Card Payment

Credit card payment is one of the best-known and most widely used payment methods worldwide. In Germany, about 35% of consumers use credit cards for online purchases, with Visa and MasterCard being the most common options. American Express is also possible, but less common and somewhat more expensive. For international trade and the B2B sector, credit card payment is a reliable choice, as many companies rely on it.

Payment Wallets: More Flexibility and Trust

Payment wallets offer customers a convenient way to make transactions, as payment and address data are already stored. This significantly speeds up the checkout process.

• PayPal: Probably the best-known payment wallet provider in Germany. Around 50% of online customers use PayPal because it is simple, fast, and particularly trustworthy thanks to buyer protection.
• Amazon Pay: Works similarly to PayPal and transfers stored payment and address data from the Amazon account. This increases the conversion rate, as many customers have an Amazon account.
• Klarna: Enables invoice and installment purchases as well as instant transfer and direct debit. Klarna's popularity in Germany is steadily increasing, as it offers flexibility and trust. However, Klarna is now only available as a complete payment wallet with user accounts.

Mobile Payment: The Trend Toward Speed

With the rise of mobile shopping, mobile payment methods such as Apple Pay and Google Pay have become essential. They enable fast transactions through stored payment data and simple authentication via facial recognition or fingerprint. These options are particularly suitable for shops that are frequently visited from mobile devices:

• Apple Pay: Especially popular among iOS users and offers seamless payment processes on all Apple devices.
• Google Pay: The Android alternative, offering similar functionality.

Purchase on Account: Germany's Most Popular Payment Method

In Germany, purchase on account is still the most widely used payment method. This is mainly due to the high level of trust customers have in this method, as they only pay for the goods after receiving them. For merchants, however, this method is risky, which is why many rely on providers who take on the risk of payment default.
Recommended providers for purchase on account:

• Klarna: Handles credit checks and the risk.
• BillPay: Another established provider for secure transactions.
• RatePAY: Offers flexible payment plans and also takes on the risk.

If you want to offer purchase on account at your own risk, we recommend integrating a credit check service such as Kreditreform or SCHUFA. These check the customers' creditworthiness and help minimize payment defaults.

Country-Specific Payment Methods: Tailored to the Market

International shops should consider local preferences to increase their conversion rate. Popular country-specific payment methods include:

• Twint (Switzerland): Widely used and enables easy payments via smartphone.
• iDeal (Netherlands): Especially popular and trustworthy.
• EPS (Austria): The preferred payment method for online transfers.
• PostFinance (Switzerland): Also common and trustworthy.
• Bancontact (Belgium): One of the most used payment methods in Belgium.

Special Features and Cases: Added Value for Your Shop

For larger shops and special business models, it is worthwhile to integrate additional features such as storing payment data. This allows customers to conveniently reuse their stored payment methods for future purchases, increasing customer loyalty. Especially for subscription purchases, it is important to support recurring payments, where the amount is automatically debited from the stored card.

Optimal Payment Processes for Shop Owners

A smooth checkout process is important not only for customers but also for shop owners. Automated processes are essential for efficiently processing orders in the ERP system and relieving the accounting department. Payment information, such as transaction numbers, should be seamlessly transferred to the ERP system to enable efficient billing. Returns and partial refunds should also be processed directly from the ERP system back to the payment method used to minimize effort.
 

Finding Suitable Providers

There are many providers on the market that offer a variety of payment methods via a central platform. Payment Service Providers (PSPs) give you as a webshop owner the ability to centrally manage and integrate multiple payment methods, saving time and increasing transaction security. It makes sense to use several PSPs to spread risks, negotiate better conditions, and cover local payment preferences. Payment orchestration platforms make it easier to access different PSPs via a central interface.
For this, we use Online Payment powered by collana pay, which provides access to over 35 payment methods with more than 25 providers. Thanks to seamless integration into our dynamic commerce webshop software and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, you have all transactions and refunds in view. This allows payment processes to be managed efficiently and refunds to be handled easily.

Conclusion: Creating Flexibility and Trust

The right selection and integration of online payment methods is crucial to offering your customers an optimal shopping experience and increasing your conversion rate. Ideally, choose two to three providers that cover your customers' needs. From classic options like credit cards to modern methods like Apple Pay or Google Pay: variety creates trust and flexibility. With the central payment platform collana pay and seamless integration into our dynamic commerce webshop software, you have all transactions securely in view and can manage your payments efficiently.