The e-commerce industry is booming right now, with many traditional retailers taking the leap and moving online as well as using their brick-and-mortar stores. But no matter what you sell or what services you offer, every e-commerce business has a common goal - to make money!
This means that while there are a number of important functions your e-commerce site must serve, accepting payments needs to be one of your top priorities.
One of the best solutions for this is to choose the best payment gateway and payment plugin for your website. This is because online payments aren't just about taking money, they also include other aspects like donations, subscriptions and refunds. As such, you need to choose the plugin that is going to best serve the needs of your business and your customers.
But before you begin feeling stressed or overwhelmed, we’re here to help!
Below, we’re going to take a look at some of the key aspects you’ll want from your payment plugin. We’ll then take a look at some of the best plugins out there right now. So read on for tips and advice that will help you to choose the perfect plugin for your e-commerce site.
What do you want from a plugin?
Before we begin looking at some of the best plugins for accepting payments, we’re going to take a quick look at what you need to be considering. When choosing the ideal plugin, you need to keep in mind:
- Your payment gateway - In order to enable payment options on your website, you will need a payment gateway. These are not to be confused with plugins! Most sites will use Stripe or PayPal, though other providers are available. But this means when selecting a plugin, you need to make sure that it is compatible with your payment gateway.
- Refunds and cancellations - Unfortunately, refunds and cancellations come with the territory when running an e-commerce business. As such, you need to put a strong returns policy in place and choose a plugin that can facilitate this.
- Converting currencies - If your e-commerce store is international, you may need to consider a plugin that converts currencies automatically.
- Saving card details - Returning customers may opt to save their card details so they can check out quicker when they visit your site. Some plugins will facilitate this while others may not, so consider whether you want to make this an option on your site.
- Having a policy in place - It's good practice to create a legally compliant policy page in accordance to GDPR, CCPA, COPPA, APP and others. You can use a privacy policy generator plugin to get your website legally compliant.
- Security - Lastly, as we’re talking about financial transactions here, you’ll want a safe and secure plugin that offers the best security measures.
The best payment plugins
Keeping all of this in mind, we’re now going to look at five of the best plugins out there right now for accepting payments through your website.
1. Stripe Payments
Let’s start with some of the bigger names. Stripe Payments is an incredible plugin that has lots of powerful features. And you guessed it - the plugin works with the Stripe payment gateway. There is a free and paid-for option depending on what you want from the plugin but some of the key features include:
- A ‘Buy Now’ button from Stripe that can be easily placed on your site using shortcode
- The ability to accept donations alongside payments
- Remembering card details for quick payments and checkout
- Customers can see the details of their transaction as soon as they’ve finished checking out
They also have a support centre to help anyone using their services with any queries or issues they may be having. So you can be safe in the knowledge any problems will be dealt with.
2. WPPayForm
WPPayForm is a WordPress plugin designed to make taking payments much easier. The plugin has a simple user interface and also comes with clear guidelines and instructions to help users get the most from this service. Stripe integration is available on the free version and if you update to the premium you can also integrate with PayPal.
The plugin is full of useful features including 22 input fields, tabular products and instant reporting. There is also a dedicated, information-rich landing page on the parent website for any queries or support you might need.
3. Contact Form 7 - PayPal and Stripe add-ons
Contact Form 7 is a WordPress plugin designed to make simple and effective contact forms for your website. The product itself is open-source but there are lots of plugins you can use in conjunction with this including the PayPal and Stripe add-ons. The only thing to bear in mind is that to use these payment plugins you’ll already have needed to install Contact Form 7 on your website. Some of the key features of these plugins include:
- Sending emails and SMS for payment confirmation
- Connecting multiple items through your CF7 forms
- Blocks spams and blank entries
If you want to know more about these add-ons, you can visit their website for a demo video and a 30-day money-back guarantee is available if you want to give it a try.
4. WP Fluent Forms
WP Fluent Forms allows you to build powerful WordPress forms that can actually boost your business. With a wealth of features, it helps to create a better user experience. This tool allows you to accept payment through Stripe and PayPal. It also makes it easy to take payments online, some of the other top benefits of this plugin include:
- Allowing you to create order forms or event registration forms
- Accepting donations alongside payments
- Taking payments/donations for e-books
There is a basic and a pro version but if you're willing to invest a little more, the pro version can be the perfect payment solution for your business.
5. WordPress Simple PayPal Shopping Cart
As you can probably work out, WordPress Simple PayPal Shopping Cart allows users to shop and then pay using PayPal. It makes the user experience much easier and makes managing their cart more efficient. This is done through:
- ‘Add to Cart’ buttons - these can be put on every post, page or product
- Ability to remove items from cart or change quantities
- Easily able to update shopping cart and check out through PayPal
This is a free plugin and there are video tutorials available to show you how you can make the most of this tool and what great things you can add to your website through the plugin.
Further reading:
Parcel Delivery Ireland
Couriers Ireland
International Parcel Delivery
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This month we are profiling local business Carbon Cleaning NI.
Carbon Cleaning NI are Northern Ireland’s official mobile engine Carbon Cleaning Service Technicians for UK Carbon Cleaning™, the world’s longest serving and most experienced Hydrogen Engine Carbon Cleaning service.
So what is Carbon Cleaning?
Carbon builds up in an engine as the result of unburnt fuel, this can reduce performance, economy and can shorten the life of an engine. Carbon cleaning removes this carbon using hydrogen.
How does it work?
Using our unique hydrogen powered engine carbon clean machine, we will remove nearly all carbon build-up from your engine. In just 30 minutes, your engine will run like new.
Having spent many years in development CarbonCleaning™ are the originators of hydrogen-powered engine carbon cleaning. Our unique advanced technology, including the ‘non chemical’ based solution, pumps and pulses hydrogen through the air intake system burning away the carbon deposits that prevent your engine from running smoothly.
The Engine Carbon Cleaning machine has a remarkable cleaning capacity. With this advanced technology, developed over several years, hydrogen is pulsed through the air intake pipes, burning off up to 75% of the carbon deposits that prevent your engine from running smoothly.
You can check them out on their website or on Carbon Cleaning NI‘s Facebook Page.
Posted on originally on our sister website NI Parcels website in November 18, 2016 by Katy Mairs
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Wufoo.
Us Irishmen and women are known around the world for our excellent sense of humour…
But it seems that we’re at our most hilarious when we’re not even trying to be funny - as these accidentally genius headlines prove…
(If you need to send a parcel Irish Parcels offers a great courier service in Ireland).
25 amazing Irish headlines...
1. This unfortunate layout fail.
2. This exciting but confusing news for the Pope.
3. This controversial statement.
4. That time Enda Kenny was accidentally outed as an attempted bird murderer.
5. When a journalist had something else on their mind at work.
6. This dramatic story which shocked Ireland to the core.
7. This delighted award-winner who had no idea he was being trolled.
8. This rather graphic description of a sex offence.
9. The news that made us breath a national sigh of relief.
10. The headline that we just couldn't believe.
11. This *facepalm* moment.
12. The slowest news day in the history of the world, ever.
13. Closely followed by this one...
14. The headline we've read 29 times and still don't quite understand.
15. This minor typo which transformed the story entirely.
16. Hold on, what?
17. When the editor clearly had no grasp of innuendo.
18. A headline that's not quite as contentious as it seems.
19. This very descriptive headline.
20. The headline that left us wanting to know more. But also, kind of not wanting to know any more...
21. This very honest hero.
22. When a journalist patted himself on the back for such a creative pun.
23. A story so dramatic, we're not sure how it didn't make the front page.
24. When we weren't afraid to be honest.
25. And finally... when we were able to make fun of ourselves!
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Going global is the goal for almost every small business…
With 1.2bn online customers around the world, businesses who tap into international markets are much more likely to succeed.
And nowadays, more than ever, this is an actual possibility thanks to the Internet and social media which has opened doors to the rest of the world, giving small businesses access to different geographic markets and allowing almost anyone to become a global trader.
But of course, it’s not quite as easy and closing your eyes, putting a pin on a map and saying ‘I’ll take that country.’ There certain things to consider before you start plotting world domination...
1. Are you really ready to export? Really, really ready?
It sounds like a stupid first point, but ask yourself, are you ready to export? Do you have the time, the resources, the manpower and money to begin exporting? Is this going to be profitable? How much will you need to sell to cover the set up, labor and exporting costs?
Get a business and marketing plan in place to cover absolutely every step of the way and eventuality.
2 Study, study, study. Do your market research
Before you launch your product or service into another country, make sure there’s a market for it. You need hard evidence, not just a gut feeling.
Look at your Google Analytics, Facebook Insights etc to see if there is any traffic trends coming from a specific area.
Examine search trends to discover if there is an veritable need for your company. A starting point is to use Google’s Keyword Planner which will give you an idea of how many people a certain country are searching for what you have to offer.
If you find that there’s huge search traffic for your industry, don’t just shout ‘yippee’ and get started. Make sure to research any competitors and their market share, as smaller secondary markets with fewer competitors might be less of a risk.
You’ll also need to assess how competitive your price will be within the market and be sure to take taxes, tariffs and export charges into account.
3. Are there any lawful impediments?
If you want to go international, it’s a good idea to start with one country or area and go from there. Immerse yourself in the culture, society and background of the country. Investigate if there are any legal or cultural regulations or issues surrounding your product or service. And for goodness sake, make sure your brand name does not mean anything offensive in the local language.
4 And on that note...
Language. Yes - you need to know the language. You don’t have to be fluent, but be aware of keywords surrounding your industry. It’s incredibly ignorant to expect customers to deal with you in English. An idea is to hire a customer service type employee who has language skills and can communicate with your customers either on the phone, via live chat or email.
In addition, it’s also advisable to build a section of your website dedicated to these international customers. Have the page locally translated. Avoid using Google’s automated translation, as it’s rarely 100% accurate, which will just annoy native speakers and cause them to bounce straight off your site.
Having a local-rate phone number will also help make your business more locally accessible to international customers.
5. Sell yourself
The best way to get started with promotion is to find a highly targeted niche group of people who you are certain, will need your product or service. It’s more cost effective than just targeting a whole country, it’s much easier to measure effectiveness and it gives you something to build upon.
Facebook advertising is a great tool, as it allows you to target an audience by a wide variety of factors like gender, age, country, language, interests etc. That way you’ll be able to build a somewhat captive local online community.
Another great tip for promoting is to find the big local influencers - the local celebrities, journalists and media personalities. Follow them on Twitter and Facebook and build a relationship with them.
6. And last but not least…
If you are planning to sell a product abroad, international shipping can be a major concern, as high unaffordable courier rates are the main roadblock to global success.
Keeping international shipping costs as low as possible will significantly help your profitability. We might be a little biased but using Irish Parcels is the best way to do this. One of our top priorities is to help local Irish businesses expand into global markets, so our international shipping rates are extremely competitive.
We will provide you with the best prices and the fastest shipping times for major couriers like DPD and TNT, who have an excellent reputation for reliable service. We provide full tracking and door to door service and it takes just five minutes to book online.
