WooCom­merce payments: default types and other payment gateways

WooCom­merce is a popular solution for retailers to sell their goods or services online. But budding retailers and online brands should also consider the payment options they provide for customers to enable quick and secure checkouts. WooCom­merce offers numerous payment gateways. Find out more about in­di­vid­ual payment options in WooCom­merce and their pros and cons.

Con­sid­er­ing the number and types of WooCom­merce payments is an important component of setting up your online store. Too few options may lead to potential customers flocking elsewhere. Too many could confuse customers and turn them away. Add to that the fact that main­tain­ing multiple online payment services increases your or­ga­ni­za­tion­al load and, in the worst case, could affect the per­for­mance of your website.

Finding a happy middle ground is what you are after. WooCom­merce provides access to several payment methods by default and you can add ad­di­tion­al payment options.

As a default, WooCom­merce offers four payment methods. You can disable the ones you don’t wish to use. While the defaults are a good start, they won’t suffice for larger online stores. Default payment methods on WooCom­merce include direct bank transfer, check payments, cash on delivery, and PayPal.

Direct bank transfer is not nec­es­sar­i­ly the most practical solution for customers. The option means that a customer transfers a payment from their account to the retailer’s. Once the transfer is confirmed, the goods are shipped. While the option is safe for the seller, it can lead to delays in shipping. Items that have been purchased are blocked to avoid double sales. However, the payment method requires a bigger effort from buyers who carry most of the risk since they are paying in advance.

Paying by check may seem like a relic from olden days, but the WooCom­merce payment is still used widely. The option is ad­van­ta­geous for sales made to customers abroad. Sellers should remain cautious of potential fraud. The payment process is similar to direct bank transfer in that the buyer receives the requested in­for­ma­tion so they can make the check out. The goods are delivered once payment has gone through, offering similar ad­van­tages and dis­ad­van­tages to a bank transfer.

With cash on delivery, the risk lies more heavily with the seller, because payment is only made upon delivery. If offered, it makes sense to include or exclude certain shipping methods to ensure that payment reaches you as fast as possible without incurring un­ex­pect­ed costs. Sellers should include the service fee that’s usually charged by the shipping con­trac­tor and pass it on to the customer in a trans­par­ent manner. Prin­ci­pal­ly, you could add your own service fees, but are subject to strict legal re­stric­tions.

PayPal is among the most popular payment gateways and not just in WooCom­merce. The online payment service is available globally and is super easy to use. It’s a secure option for customer and sellers alike. One dis­ad­van­tage for sellers are PayPal’s trans­ac­tion fees which can be high. You will need to sign up for a business account to use PayPal on your site. Although it is tech­ni­cal­ly available as a default payment in WooCom­merce, setting up an account can take some time. There are numerous al­ter­na­tives to PayPal if you prefer a different option.

In addition to the standard payment methods, you can integrate other payment providers with WooCom­merce. The ones that are most suitable for your needs will depend on the type of your store. Below are five of the best providers available right now.

Stripe is a popular WooCom­merce payment option, es­pe­cial­ly in the United States. The plugin is free and setup is rel­a­tive­ly simple. Stripe adds credit card payments to your WooCom­merce payment gateways and also in­te­grates Apple Pay and Google Pay. Stripe charges a fee of 1.4 percent and a flat rate sum of $0.30 per trans­ac­tion. For in­ter­na­tion­al bank cards, the fee is 2.9 percent.

Another WooCom­merce payment method is Braintree. The in­te­gra­tion is free, and fees are only due for in­di­vid­ual trans­ac­tions. At 2.9 percent plus a flat rate of $0.30, they are com­par­a­tive­ly high. In return, however, Braintree, which is part of PayPal, provides sub­scrip­tion features and numerous payment options. PayPal, credit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and GiroPay are included, among others.

Mollie too provides popular payment options for WooCom­merce. Credit cards, debit cards, PayPal, Klarna and numerous local payment methods are accepted. There are no set-up fees. Mollie charges per trans­ac­tion, although the amount depends on the payment method. Mollie also scores well in terms of support, providing quick answers to technical queries and full or partial refunds.

Amazon Pay will only work for customers with an existing Amazon account. Thus, it should only be added to your WooCom­merce payment gateway as a sup­ple­men­tal option. Payments for customers are super simple and take just a few clicks, elim­i­nat­ing the need to re-enter personal data. Amazon Pay charges a flat rate of $0.99 per trans­ac­tion and an ad­di­tion­al fee of between 1.2 and 1.9 percent depending on payment volume.

Wallee is a rather unknown payment provider for WooCom­merce. While setup is free, the company charges a monthly usage fee. In the basic version, the monthly fee is ap­prox­i­mate­ly $20 per month. Trans­ac­tion charges vary depending on payment method and include a $0.20 per purchase. Up to ten different payment methods for WooCom­merce are included in the basic rate.