Ecommerce Facts

FACT: Having a merchant account (so you can accept credit cards directly on your website) will increase the conversion rate at your ecommerce store.

REASON: It’s a long known, and well accepted fact that taking credit cards directly on your ecommerce store will greatly increase your conversion rate. There’s nothing worse for the conversion rate than forcing the customer to leave your website during the checkout process in order to make a payment to you. As you know, that’s how checkout works when you only accept PayPal and/or Google Checkout. With a traditional merchant account that integrates with your ecommerce store, you can accept credit cards during the checkout process without the customer ever needing to leave your store.

Much like the toll-free phone number, the simple fact that you take credit cards on your website greatly increases customer trust. An increase in customer trust means an increase in your conversion rate. It’s a simple as that! You’ll find that the word ‘trust’ comes up a lot when we’re discussing conversion rates. Visitors that trust, are visitors that buy. So the more you can do on your ecommerce store to make your customers feel like you’re legitimate, established & trustworthy, the better your conversion rate will be.

So what exactly is a merchant account?

A merchant account provider is who you establish a ‘merchant account’ with. They are basically an agent that connects the processing bank and your store together. When a customer uses a credit card to place an order on your website, the processing bank is who secures the funds on your behalf. They then transfer the funds (minus processing fees) to your bank account (personal or business bank account).

So what kind of fees are involved with having a merchant account?

Typically you can expect to pay fees similar to these:

• Application fee / account establishment fee: $100-200 (along with a 2-3 year contract)
• Early termination fee: $200-400 (for closing your account before the contract is up)
• Monthly fee: $30-50 (between the monthly statement fee & the gateway fee)
• Processing fees: 2.3-4.5% (this is charged on the total order amount)
• Per transaction fee: .30-.50 (charged for each order received)

This is fairly typical, but you will find varying rates when you shop around. Once the up front application fees are behind you, it’s not too bad. The monthly fee and processing fees are minimal for the amount of additional orders you received because of the simple fact that you take credit cards.

My personal recommendation for merchant account providers

I’ve had about 50 ecommerce stores over the past 8 years. So I’ve worked with many different merchant account providers. Nearly all of them were a pain to work with. They acted entitled & getting good customer service out of them was nearly impossible. The fees were high & the value of service was low. About 18 months ago I was referred to a merchant account provider called Durango. The person that referred me was a savvy businessman who I have a lot of respect for, so I trusted him when he said they were the best. At that point I was with iPayment and wasn’t too impressed with their service. My 3 year contract was up so I figured I would give them a try. I was immediately impressed by the fact that I got to speak with a real person when I called them up to inquire about their service.

At this point I am absolutely elated with them. That’s right elated! I never even use the word ‘elated’ but saying ‘impressed by’ or ‘happy with’ doesn’t come close to explaining how great they are. Their customer service is head & shoulders above every other merchant provider I’ve worked with & their rates are actually the best I’ve ever seen. Through this exclusive sign up page you can establish an account with no set-up fee & no minimum contract. That is absolutely unheard of when applying for a merchant account! Plus, their ongoing fees are very low. The monthly fee is only $25 and the processing rates are lower than you’ll find anywhere. Best of all, you can use a single merchant account for all of your stores. That’s also unheard of. Typically you must get a separate merchant account for each store you own.