Adding PayPal to Your Online Store: All You Need To Know

Did you know that PayPal processes $8,000 in payment every second? Even though a lot of payment apps like Google and Apple Passbook have entered the market, PayPal still leads the pack. The 203 million active users and 16 million merchant accounts verify the popularity of PayPal in the global payment sector. If you think the only job of a PayPal app is simply acting as a wallet, then you are missing out on the opportunities it presents.

Here Comes PayPal Shopping Cart

So, you have nailed your ideas, or you already have a blog which has your products on display, how do you monetize it? The answer is simple, the PayPal shopping cart. You don’t require any prior knowledge of coding or setting up a store. If you have a PayPal account, all you need to do is link them. PayPal charges a small fee, which is gets deducted automatically from the payment.

What Do You Need To Add PayPal Shopping Cart?

1. You must own a PayPal account. If you do not have one, it is easy to create. 
2. You have a list of items to sell preferably with names, prices, tags, and shipping costs. 
3. Any website, even if it is a personal domain. But you must have permission to edit individual pages. 
4. An HTML editor to copy-paste the code provided by the company.

The Ultimate Benefits of Using PayPal Shopping Cart

No Cost Setting Up: If you must set up an e-commerce store from scratch, it can cost you a lot of money. Either you must pay the person who develops the site for you or pay for the software you use. Apart from that, there is a maintenance cost monthly to get your site up and running. But, with PayPal, there is no cost unless you sell something. 

Ease of Setting Up - If you want the 'Buy Now' button to appear, all you need to do is copy-paste the HTML code. It takes only a couple of minutes and asks for minimal information like button type, price, currency, e-mail address, and inventory name.

Brand Reputation: A lot of customers are still hesitant to make a payment online, but millions use PayPal every day, and it remains their preferred choice. The brand will motivate the buyers to purchase from your website. 

Sell on Social Media: You can add this to social media platforms like Facebook and Tumblr. PayPal has also announced its collaboration with Instagram for a Checkout program. It allows shoppers to buy and manage their orders from the social media site itself. Now, you can sell your products on the go. 

Accept Global Currencies: Do not restrict selling your product inside your country. With PayPal, you can receive money in more than 100 currencies. There is a small fee attached to the transaction based on the country. When you first register, you can only accept payment from other PayPal users. But, with an upgrade, you can accept payment via credit and debit cards.

Decide on Payment Options: Play around with the settings offered by PayPal. If you want to sell globally, go for it. If you feel that’s not your cup of tea, then that’s fine as well. You also have a choice to block some customers, people who violate your policy, or even incomplete forms.

Secure Payments: If you set up an e-commerce website, you must avail of an SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) license for selling. It is for sending secured data over the internet. But the process of availing it can be tedious and time-consuming. With PayPal, encryption is automatic. All you have to do is, click the ‘Yes’ option. With this, your payment is secured. 

Keep an Eye on Transactions: PayPal can be your free accountant who is also sincere, honest and does not hide anything. You can access every single transaction whether inbound or outbound. You can also do an advanced search to get a name, e-mail address, and transaction ID of the customers. You can download up to a year's worth or more data for easy reference. 

Handle Multiple Accounts: There's no age bar for starting your own business. And, if you are a student selling something, you can open a student account. There's also a personal and business account and each one has different rules and privileges. For example, if you want to send money to a personal account, there are no transaction charges.

From being voted as the worst business idea in 1999 to what it is now, PayPal is a great crutch to small business owners who are trying to find their foothold in this massive e-commerce market.