Living in 2022, it's almost impossible to escape conversations about cryptocurrency and blockchain. The advent of digital wallets is paving the road for more practical and immediate payment methods, which is upending how we conduct business. Ecommerce accepting bitcoin Payments alongside fiat is also a thing to consider for every online business.
Accepting cryptocurrency as payment using StashWave is simpler for merchants since it is instantly converted into local currency for them when using the payment processor.
The focus of this article is two-fold: discussing how merchants can accept Bitcoin payments and how shoppers can use the currency to pay for online transactions. However, before we have this discussion, we’ll talk about exactly why Bitcoin in eCommerce is a total game changer.
Accepting Payment With Bitcoin
Since both eCommerce and bitcoin cater to the digitally sophisticated user, they complement each other rather well. You should regard cryptocurrencies the same way you look at your business. For people seeking a quicker and more practical method of paying for products and services, it is an extra choice. This demonstrates how popular digital payments are among online consumers.
The next two sections explore why your eCommerce store should be accepting Bitcoin payments, and how exactly to go about achieving this.
Reasons You Should Accept Bitcoin Payments
Let's take a closer look at some of the specific benefits of Ecommerce business accepting Bitcoin could yield for your business.
It Increases Your Potential Market
Because cryptocurrency acceptance in e-commerce stores is still in its early stages, it may help attract demographic groups wanting to be on the cutting edge. And, based on some of the research that has been published, it appears that these groups are willing and able to spend.
In fact, according to the Cryptocurrency Payments Report in 2021, nearly 31% of cryptocurrency owners make purchases in the bracket of $100–1,000. It also found that approximately 19% of these owners make purchases valued at $1,000 and above.
Next To Nothing Transaction Fees
As previously stated, governments and financial organizations do not regulate Bitcoin. Thus, transactions occur directly between the seller and the buyer so there are no middlemen to hold your funds, and the charges (if any) for executing BTC payments are lower than those for credit cards.
Credit card transaction costs can range between 3-5%, which brands frequently include in their product prices. In contrast, bitcoin transactions frequently have low to no fees, averaging around 1%, saving retailers from payment processing costs. Lower pricing and greater shopping incentives may result in customers.
Faster Transactions
Blockchain technology allows for quicker, more direct transactions that help facilitate cash flow. Customers use their e-wallets to conduct crypto transactions, as opposed to credit card purchases, which require many fields at checkout. Fewer fields and speedier transactions contribute to better shopping experiences and higher satisfaction and retention among customers.
More Safe And Secure
Because of their sophisticated encryption, bitcoins are extremely difficult to steal and duplicate, lowering the risk of fraud. Since money is exchanged instantly, it cannot be withdrawn or forged, protecting retailers from bogus chargebacks or returns. As a result, because crypto transactions are final, they can be likened to cash transactions.
How To Accept Bitcoin On Your Site
So you now have a better understanding of the advantages of Bitcoin payments. You might even explore accepting cash on your website at this stage. Here are the steps you should take to begin accepting Bitcoin payments.
Evaluate Your eCommerce Website
Already have an eCommerce store? You can integrate it with a Bitcoin payment processor to get started immediately. Most eCommerce systems already have established integrations, making it considerably easier to set up Bitcoin payments.
Magento eCommerce merchants, for example, have options such as BitPay and others. Meanwhile, Shopify store owners can accept Bitcoin payments through systems such as StashWave.
Conduct research to determine your options. Finding a Bitcoin processor on some eCommerce platforms may be as simple as looking for integration in the platform's community. In other circumstances, you may need to consult your eCommerce platform's help documentation to learn how to accept Bitcoin payments.
Evaluating Different Options
The next step is to compare the many BTC payment processors available to find which one is better suited for your store. Here are some things to think about:
Transaction fees - Inquire about the transaction cost levied by the Bitcoin payment providers you're thinking about using. As previously stated, Bitcoin service charges are less than credit card fees, for most providers charging as little as 1%.
Payout frequency - Some providers promise daily payouts, while others may take up to three days. If payout frequency is crucial to you, talk to your processor about it.
Currency support - Confirm whether your Bitcoin payment service accepts the payment currency you select. Most solutions allow store owners to withdraw Bitcoin in USD and GBP, but if you want to withdraw funds in another currency, make sure the service supports it.
Countries supported - Some Cryptocurrency payment gateways cannot cater to businesses from particular countries, so be sure your provider covers the country in which you do business.
Customer support - When you have a lot of queries or believe you'll need assistance setting-up up BTC transactions, look into your payment processor's customer service options. Is phone assistance available, or is everything handled through email? What about using live chat? Think about your preferred support channels before making a selection.
When it comes to all of the above factors, StashWave wins every time! Payments can be made across borders, Bitcoin payments can be received, and local currency can be converted instantly.
StashWave is a service that allows users to send and receive money using the Bitcoin network through the StashWave application. Invoices for payments can be received by sharing BTC QR Codes or LND invoices as a means of receiving the payments. Ecommerce accepting bitcoin is made easy for both newbies and experienced store owners. It is easy to start and manage.
Spread The Word
Have you established your technologies and policies? Great. The next stage is to spread the news. Accepting Bitcoin can help you enter new markets, but if you keep your endeavors to yourself, those prospective new clients will be unaware of your existence. Here are some ideas about how to spread the word:
Display signs on your website - Create a graphic that reads something like "Bitcoin accepted here" and places it on your website.
Get listed - A number of Bitcoin directories allow customers to locate companies that accept BTC. List your company in these directories to get your name out there and increase traffic to your website.
Inform your clients, friends, and followers - You most likely already have customers or following who use Bitcoin. Make it clear that you accept Bitcoin payments.
Send an email to your list and arrange some social media postings to announce your Bitcoin endeavors.
Paying With Bitcoin
In this section, we’ll discuss the flip side— why and how shoppers or users should pay with Bitcoin at your eCommerce store.
Reasons You Should Pay With Bitcoin
Over the last couple of years, we’ve seen an exponential rise in the number of people paying in Bitcoin for online transactions. There are plenty of reasons for this. Let's check some of them out:
Faster Cross-border Payments
You can quickly complete a transaction using well-known cryptocurrencies like USDT (Tether), Ethereum (ETH), or even the original Bitcoin (BTC) to make the payment if your counterparty allows cryptocurrencies.
Blockchain-enabled transactions are safer, more trustworthy, and happen far faster than traditional banking because they don't require any form of middleman bank. Even between two industrialized countries, a standard bank transfer often takes one to three working days, while a straightforward Bitcoin or cryptocurrency payment may be made and processed in about 20 minutes.
You Have Full Control Over Your Funds
Traditional banking systems frequently use a fractional reserve banking model, which means they are not legally compelled to keep ALL of the monies in your bank account in custody and can instead use a specific legally permitted percentage of the money in services that would generate revenue for them.
You Can Maintain Your Anonymity
A cryptocurrency transaction frequently only requires the public address of the wallet in question; the payee need not explicitly disclose any additional information to the sender, unlike a regular bank account in which you are needed to detail one's bank account, location, detail, and much more.
Some people just don't want to divulge their bank account number, data, or even the bank they use because these are all individually identifying information, therefore this provides some anonymity.
Blockchain Is Going To Enable Microtransactions
Microtransactions, or the ability to pay in cents rather than dollars, are one of the largest use cases for blockchain technology.
Advertising will be able to be replaced with microtransactions whenever blockchain is able to reduce transaction fees to a fraction of a penny or even much lower (like in the case of cryptocurrencies like Nano).
Getting familiar with blockchain early on will make you an early adopter in the world of content creation and consumption, which may open up new career prospects for you.
You Can Avail Discounts On Your Bitcoin
Although they are still not the best method of payment, cryptocurrencies have already made progress in lowering some of these costs. Companies including Starbucks, Overstock and even Wholefoods are interested in adopting blockchain payments.
For some of them, it might just be an experiment, but they are surely carefully considering the long-term benefits that blockchain payments can present. These are presumably the firms and companies able to make the initial adoption leap to the blockchain once it offers a simpler way to pay.
How To Pay With Bitcoin?
For the past few years, Bitcoin has been the trendiest trend in the financial industry. You've come to the right place if you still don't understand how to use this virtual currency and want to know which businesses currently accept it. We're going to give you some fundamental tips on how to use Bitcoin quickly in this short section.
One way you can easily pay with bitcoin is to go through a third-party platform such as StashWave. With this, you’ll be able to leverage the blockchain’s secondary layer called the Lightning Network. This enables you to send and receive money almost instantly.
By combining transactions together and resolving them later in a batch rather than as individual transactions, Lightning Network enables users to execute transactions outside of Bitcoin's blockchain. This prevents congestion on the main blockchain and eliminates the need to wait for the time-consuming settlement procedure, which can take up to an hour, on the main blockchain.
StashWave’s mission is to become a borderless system for sending money from one country to another as quickly and cheaply as one can. The idea is to do away with bank transactions and the hefty fees of Western Union.
Conclusion
It's important to think carefully before adding a payment option, especially one that's so unusual. The usage of cryptocurrencies for illicit purposes, the erratic nature of exchange prices, and the vulnerability of their fundamental infrastructure are just a few of the complaints levelled against them. They can also be lost if the hard disc they are stored on is lost or destroyed because there is no central database to store them because they are virtual.
The ease with which bitcoin allows for fund transfers from one location to another without the involvement of a third-party financial institution is what makes it appealing as a method of e-commerce payment. You must, at the very least, keep yourself up to speed on the ins and outs of virtual currency whether or not you decide whether to accept BTC in your business.
Download your StashWave App today to get started - pay faster and affordably across borders. Businesses are also able to receive Bitcoin payments and they can easily convert to USD and withdraw to bank accounts.