According to the Association of Electronic Commerce and Interactive Advertising (ACEPI), in 2021, 52% of citizens living in Portugal made online purchases, a figure that represents an increase of seven percentage points (p.p.) compared to 2020 and translates into the largest annual increase since this information has been collected.
However, despite these figures highlighting the good momentum of e-commerce, the truth is that the increase in the use of e-commerce has ended up "unveiling" a series of problems associated with this type of platform, especially those related to the payment methods.
The increase in he attractiveness of e-commerce has led many entrepreneurs to set up online businesses without a website, taking advantage of the benefits offered by social media marketplaces (Instagram, Facebook, etc.).However, this lighter and more flexible sales structure ended up raising a lot of questions in terms of payments.
In order to help these thousands of businesses (cafés, restaurants, clothes shops, etc.) that want to sell without a website, REDUNIQ has created the REDUNIQ@PaymentsThis is a turnkey solution that allows them to receive online payments by link via email, SMS or WhatsApp, by Multibanco reference, MB WAY and with Visa and Mastercard cards.
In operational terms, in a simple and safe way, the @Payments provides a platform, optimised for smartphones and tablets, where the business creates a link, which can be sent by email, SMS or WhatsApp to the customer. When the customer receives the link, all they have to do is click to be redirected to a secure REDUNIQ page, thus ensuring that the seller does not have access to the card details at any stage of this payment by link.
As you can see, with the REDUNIQ@Payments é those who sell online without a website can accept payment by payment linkBut what is it, how does it work and what are the benefits of a payment link? That's what we're going to find out next.
What is a Payment Link and how does it work?
As we have already seen, a payment link is a e-commerce payment solution for whom want to sell online without a website simply and securely. And how does it work?
- During the checkout process, the payment platform automatically generates a link, already personalised with the items the customer wishes to purchase and the details for finalising the transaction, which is sent directly to the customer by email, SMS or WhatsApp, so that they can proceed to complete the transaction using Multibanco, MB WAY or Visa and Mastercard.
- By sending the link, the customer doesn't need to go back to the online shop and select the products to finalise the purchase, but simply click on the URL sent by the business, enter the payment details, including card information and personal details, and complete the order.
- Once the payment has been finalised, the online business receives the amount of the purchase in the account registered with its payment link. In addition to its simplicity, this type of payment link can be easily customised with the identity of the business, payment methods and the length of time the link will be available.
Note that this the link payment method is governed by the security standards regulated by the Bank of Portugal and the card issuers.
Benefits of a Payment Link
Beyond ease and simplicity of link paymentsThis payment method also offers a number of other advantages to those who sell online without a website:
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Actively selling via WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook
The first and most obvious advantage of being able to provide link payments means actively selling without a website, taking advantage of previously established platforms such as WhatsApp, Instagram or Facebook.
So, instead of the customer having to log on to your professional website, add the products to the basket and then complete the purchase, with this type of tool, your business can sell via payment linkby generating a URL and sending it to the client via a message.
This ultimately allows you to offer a improve your customer's shopping experience and simplify the payment process This will prevent you from losing a sale due to friction (the customer returning to the site to pay or going through several steps before paying) at the checkout.
For example, in WhatsApp caseIf you have a product with a payment link, you can advertise it so that users can complete the purchase quickly, thus increasing the number of sales made.
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Promote "lightning" offers on specific products
By making it possible to communicate directly with the customer, the payment link is the ideal resource for making lightning deals and clean out products that are in stock forever, since, as we mentioned, the technology behind this tool makes it possible to determine when the URL will expire.
In this way, the seller can create promotions with selected products and send a link to your customer base via e-mail or social networks.
In addition, in order to prevent stock from running out and someone finding an unavailable product, it is possible to configure the number of times the link can be used.
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Recovering from "abandoned" shopping carts
It's not uncommon for people who enter an e-commerce platform to fill up their shopping cart but not finalise their order. This is called "shopping basket abandonment" and is linked to various factors, including the slowness of the page or the lack of clarity in the information and registration forms.
Although this is common practice, it is you can turn it around with a payment link.
How? By combining payment link to remarketing strategy (marketing to the same person), your business can recover those sales, as it allows you to send new marketing messages to your customers and makes it possible to finalise the purchase with immediate payment from anywhere.
For this to happen, all you have to do is set up the sending of a WhatsApp message or email, for example, so that the customer receives a responsive checkout page and completes the purchase in a secure environment.
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Brings greater credibility to your business
Selling on social media doesn't mean you have to be hostage to bank transfers and deposits and/or payments on delivery of the product to your customer.
With the payment link, you can make these "informal sales" much more securely and professionally, since accepting payments via bank transfer or deposit to your personal account makes the business relationship more amateurish and even less reliable.
In addition to greater credibility, this solution offers more to the end consumer due to its various means of payment.
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Ideal for large orders
In cases where, exceptionally, you have to deal with orders in large quantities, the payment link is the ideal solution for collecting payment from your customers, as this would not be very practical via the traditional e-commerce checkout.
