When it comes to website features, eCommerce is one of the more complex ones - but also one of the most useful. To build a successful eCommerce platform, a site must take into account product categories, stock levels, shipping, security and, most sensitive of all, payment processing.
Payment processing is important to do right. When it’s done wrong, some serious problems can crop up - whether it’s leaked customer information, stolen credit card details, payment failures...online buyers expect a seamless buying experience, and should be able to expect that their information will be handled properly.
Luckily, at DelaneyDavidson we’ve partnered with Stripe to alleviate some of these headaches. Instead of taking and storing credit card information directly on your website, we use Stripe’s secure payment processing gateway to provide a secure, user-friendly checkout. While Stripe is a relatively new as a payment gateway, it’s familiar, being roughly similar to Paypal, but with a few neat advantages:
Security. This is the biggie. With Stripe, at no stage are credit card details stored on, or even sent to, your server. All credit card data is sent directly to Stripe’s secure servers. This is important for three huge reasons.
Your website is not responsible for the security of any sensitive credit card data.
A security breach on your own website will not result in any stolen credit card information.
Your business is not required to pay for PCI Compliance - a cost often in excess of tens of thousands of dollars.
Simple payment structure. Stripe’s pricing is simple - 1.75% + 30c. Even better, Stripe does not charge refund costs or hidden fees. No small print, no tricks, no setup fees. Compared to Paypal, it’s an absolute dream.
Data Migration. With Paypal, your data is locked up. Sure, credit card details are secure, but if you want to take a copy of your data and move to another provider… well… you can’t. With Stripe, they’ll actually help you migrate your credit card data in a PCI-Compliant way.
Dashboard and reporting. In terms of payment gateway dashboards, Stripe is simply the best we’ve come across. When logged into your Stripe account, you can view your sales, payments, and customers, as well as effortlessly create new plans, coupon codes and subscriptions.
Seamless checkout process. Unlike Paypal, Stripe offers us complete control to create the payment process we want. Users aren’t redirected to a Stripe branded payment page - everything is handled on your site, under your branding, and in the most user-friendly way.
