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It’s extremely unlikely that you haven’t heard of cryptocurrencies by this time; almost everyone has at least heard of the major Bitcoin, if not others such as Ethereum and LiteCoin. With the values soaring up and down almost every day, everyone has had their jobs cut out for them with trying to make any sense of cryptocurrencies, and turning them into legitimate economic benefits, but there has been some semblance of consistency with the market front-runner, Bitcoin, thus making it by far the most popular choice. So, for online shops, a natural step will be taking cryptocurrencies and allowing customers to purchase goods and services online with them.
Why Should You Consider Cryptocurrency For Your Business?
There are many general benefits to cryptocurrencies, but a few are specific to cases such as yours: the benefits for eCommerce stores, looking to modernize further online. For instance, cryptocurrencies reduce the chance of eCommerce fraud, since there is no way for a customer to ‘call back’ the money which they transferred to you over the blockchain once it’s been sent (without your consent, that is). And, obviously, cryptocurrencies are, at the end of the day, another payment option, so you will be broadening your customer range by offering them more ways to pay, increasing the chance of a sale on your part.
How Can You Start Accepting Cryptocurrency Payments?
“There are many methods which will allow you to start accepting cryptocurrencies in your eCommerce store, and not all are made for beginners.” States Jessica Montrose, a crypto expert at Study demic and Academized. “The three main ways range from difficult, too easy, to easiest, but not all will be accessible for everyone due to different situations with your eCommerce store, namely who you’ve created the store with (i.e. WordPress, Wix, etc.). Also, the pricing ranges, since the easy option is also the most expensive, and the most difficult is possibly the cheapest. As a beginner, it may be worth holding back on the difficult method and paying for an easier time, even if it’s just, to begin with, due to inexperience – you don’t want to make life more difficult than it has to be!”
The Difficult Way
Now, here we’re going to get technical. Avoiding third parties does mean that you won’t have fees from said third parties, but to do this you’ll need to set up wallets manually. Here, you can go for hardware or software (hardware gives you more options and is more secure, but expensive). Make sure you get the right wallet, however, as they don’t all support the same cryptocurrencies. Then, if you want to change your cryptocurrencies to ‘real’ money, you’ll need an exchange account (a couple are Gemini and GDAX, which both only support the major cryptocurrencies). With coding experience (or a freelance coder) you’ll then need an interface for the user to make a payment, a way to generate new addresses to receive the payments, a way to store customers’ personal details securely, an auto-transfer of wallet funds to your cryptocurrency exchange, and then one of your cryptocurrency funds to a currency of your choice. A lot of work, but, with experience, you can pull it off!
The Easy Way
“If you don’t want to set up a ‘wallet’ without any third parties (difficult) then you can go for the slightly more expensive route and use third parties (easier) which will likely be more appealing to you, being a cryptocurrency beginner.” Brian Gibbons, a tech writer at Australian reviewer and Essayroo, says. “Bitpay and Coinbase are both options which include UI interfaces suitable for everyone, from beginners to experts, with more customization that you will understand once more knowledgeable on cryptocurrencies available.
The Easiest Way
However, the absolute easiest way to accept cryptocurrencies is to use WordPress, Shopify or a similar platform to build your eCommerce store on (anything which allows you to use plugins, basically). You can then simply search for plugins that let you accept cryptocurrencies, find a reputable, well-reviewed and well-rated one, and add it to your eCommerce store – quick, easy and simple!
Other Options
If the first three choices don’t appeal to you, then you can explore other options. You could contact a web developer and change the coding of your eCommerce store directly, or add a payment button from a cryptocurrency payment processor, or even use invoices instead of a shopping cart – this will vary from processor to processor, but some will generate the invoices for you, taking away a lot of the work!
Ellie Coverdale is a marketing writer for Boomessays and Bigassignments. She focuses on marketing and social media presence building for small businesses and start-ups, and she likes finding new ways for businesses to increase their audience. She also teaches writing skills at Ukwritings.
