How Customers Can Pay With Payment Links

Any business worth its salt understands the significance of going digital in a digitally-driven economy. No matter how appealing your brick and mortar store is, it still doesn't cater to the convenience-first approach of today’s ever ballooning group of online shoppers. And the quintessential part of any online shopping is the checkout experience which can be enhanced with a smooth and frictionless payment process.

A seamlessly smooth checkout experience can remarkably augment the overall sales journey of a consumer and he will keep coming back for me. These small matters can aid in building your brand reputation and cultivating brand loyalists in the long run.

All this explains why choosing the right payment partner is sine-qua-non for any business.

What we discuss here

• What is a payment link?

• Differentiating between an invoice and payment links

• Approaching a payment process

• Payment link usage steps

What is a payment link?

Payment link enables businesses to request and accept payments from consumers during an online/offline checkout. Powered by a highly robust payment system, it equally insulates payment security of both merchants and consumers.

Payment links can contribute immensely to boost online sales because of its remarkable ease of making payments and how it eliminates the arduous and time-consuming process of filling out forms, and resorting to traditional payment modes. The best part is that online payments can be facilitated via an email invoice, social media platforms, on a website, or even in messenger portals. And the cherry on top? It can pander to all segments including B2B and B2C categories of consumers.

Differentiating Invoice and payment Links

Everytime a product or service is purchased, an invoice can be raised so that consumers can make payments. An invoice is essentially a document that lets the merchants and consumers communicate the amount due and all other payment details and terms of purchase.

A payment link is a device via which a consumer can make a payment without entering any payment related information. Both these methods come with their own set of advantages and disadvantages, but payment links win the race often because of the increased convenience and speed of payment factor.

The major difference is illustrated below

1. Invoice: Raised for a particular customer

Payment link: Links are product specific

2. Invoice: Not reusable as it is customer specific

Payment link: Absolutely reusable

3. Invoice: Takes much longer to encash

Payment link: Speedy payment

4. Invoice: Limited Convenience

Payment link: Highly convenient

5. Invoice: Manual errors frequent

Payment link: Errors negligible

6. Invoice: Limited efficiency and labor-rich

Payment link: Efficient and easier to use

7. Invoice: Tracking is challenging

Payment link: Real-time tracking

How to approach a payment process?

Building a payment process from scratch needs some serious thinking. Before implementing a payment process in place, one needs to have an unambiguous idea as to what the business goal is and a crystal clear plan of the business’ requirements.

A few criterions to be mindful of are as follows

Customer-friendly payment process

Offering a gamut of payment options is a great way to capture maximum revenue from a variety of consumer segments. Consumers must have the complete freedom and choice to opt for his preferred mode of payment. The last thing you have to encumber your consumer with is a lengthy checkout experience or a fussy payment mode. It triggers sales abandonment.

Ensure that customer preference is validated

When the market is flooded with myriad payment options, selecting the best payment option that will be tailor-made to meet the demands of your business is quite a challenge. It is imperative to choose the right payment method for your business and your consumer. For instance, online shoppers prefer credit card payments. Cards are easy to use and provide substantial security.

Check feasibility factor for online sales

Did you know that there are a host of means by which you can ensure that your online sales skyrocket and that you don't need technical experts to transform your business’ online presence. Social media platforms have revolutionized the very concept of online marketing. These platforms allow brands to access a greater audience in very limited time and with innate features that can phenomenally augment the shopping experience, and hence best suited for ecommerce.

Ensure optimum management of online transaction

Ensuring efficient management of online payments is imperative when carrying out an online store. Ensuring that finances are properly managed is essential to plan ahead and have a smooth and friction-free cash flow for daily business activity. Timely recording of payment details in accounting books is crucial to track how well your business is faring.

Steps to generate Payment link usage

STEP 1- Generate Payment link

Signing up for an online payment system and creating an account is all you have to do to generate a payment link. Once registration is completed, link generation is easy.

STEP 2- Share Payment Link

A payment link generated can be shared with consumers via multiple channels. It can be sent across various social media channels, email, or even as a text message. Did you know that you can even get a generated link button embedded on your website. Also, these links can be used to create a QR code, using which a consumer can scan and complete the transaction.

STEP 3- Accept payments

All a consumer needs to do is to follow the instructions and make payments to seal the transaction. Once the payment is done, you can access the amount directly from your account.