As Bitcoin increases in value and popularity, merchants worldwide may wonder how they can accept the cryptocurrency at their ecommerce websites. Preparing to accept Bitcoin at your online shop is not only easy, but when complete it opens your business to a slew of new customers.
Also read: How to Start Your Own Bitcoin ATM Business
Accepting Bitcoin Brings a Whole New Group of Customers
Bitcoin use worldwide has become widespread, and many are using the cryptocurrency for daily transactions. Because Bitcoin is gaining more acceptance online businesses may be enticed to accept the digital asset at their stores. Adding Bitcoin as a payment for services and goods opens the business to a whole new group of customers. Furthermore, the cryptocurrency has much smaller fees than traditional credit card networks, and is a decentralized currency for the people rather than funds issued by governments or corporations.
The first thing a merchant should do when planning on accepting bitcoin at their online store is figure out how they’d like to process the cryptocurrency. Store owners should get a Bitcoin wallet and first figure out the logistics of transacting with the currency. If the ecommerce website doesn’t have an integrated shopping cart system and sales are processed manually, store owners can accept Bitcoin right away. All a merchant has to do is use their wallet address to accept the currency and place a “Bitcoin Accepted Here” banner on the website. A merchant can then put a QR code on the website for customers to scan and start accepting Bitcoin instantly. This is probably the simplest way a merchant can accept Bitcoin without integrating a payment gateway.
Merchant Services and Payment Gateways
There are a lot of resources available that help an ecommerce site accept bitcoin using a payment gateway. This includes services that help merchants integrate shopping cart plug-ins and website payment buttons. There are many companies worldwide dedicated to getting merchants set up with Bitcoin acceptance and can also provide invoices, and exchange the cryptocurrency for your local tender. Bitcoin.com has an excellent merchant solutions portal that can help guide you along the way. Our site offers our own “Pay with Bitcoin” buttons and a huge list of merchant service providers.
Businesses that provide payment gateways and merchant services include Shopify, Bitpay, Bitkassa, Bitpagos, Cashila, Spectrocoin, Paxful, Airbitz, Mycelium Gear, and many more. Some of these companies offer immediate fiat exchange, invoices and billing, accounting, and global support. Merchants who are crypto-novices may find more comfort dealing with a company that handles payment gateways and accounting services. Companies focused on merchant services make the process less complex, and time-consuming.
Bitcoin Captures an Emerging Market, Offers Lower Fees, and No Corporate Entities or Governments Control the Network
The bottom line is accepting bitcoin gets your online store noticed and captures an emerging market. Credit card processors charge significantly higher fees with the money going towards the world of traditional corporatism. Bitcoin fees are significantly lower, and this can allow merchants to pass the savings onto the customer. With a small fee, bitcoin transactions can be transferred all across the globe.
A broad array of choices are available for a merchant deciding to accept the cryptocurrency online, including many brick n’ mortar store options as well. Merchants can decide to accept Bitcoin on their own and acquire the cryptocurrency as a store of value. But if Bitcoin’s price volatility scares them, then using a service like Bitpay’s retail ecommerce solution means processing the cryptocurrency promptly and paying a bank account directly in the local fiat currency. Accepting bitcoin is pretty easy and there are many different ways to accomplish the task. So what are you waiting for? Open your ecommerce site to a whole new global market today!
Have you thought about accepting Bitcoin at your online store? Let us know in the comments below.
Images courtesy of Shutterstock, and Bitcoin.com’s merchant portal.
Do you want to talk about bitcoin in a comfortable (and censorship-free) environment? Check out the Bitcoin.com Forums — all the big players in Bitcoin have posted there, and we welcome all opinions.
