Five tips to get your business online

Many merchants are currently closed, and those that remain open often struggle with low foot traffic and new consumer demands due to social distancing. While businesses face unique challenges, one critical decision can no longer be an option – a digital presence.

Amid the pandemic, consumers are switching to a digital-first mindset and expect to find, purchase and receive goods quickly, safely and securely – all from home or at a socially acceptable distance. This shift is requiring businesses of all sizes to reinvent their business models to address changing consumer needs.

Digital transformation is key, but “going digital” does not have to mean architecting a full multi-media website or risk closing doors. There are resources to help businesses quickly add or refine digital commerce experiences with or without an established web presence.

Below are tips from the Authorize.Net team to get your business online, or enhance your current online presence to fit today’s changing world:

1. Establish a Digital Presence: Create a simple website to reach your customers. There are many turnkey solutions available but remember to prioritize a website provider that works with your payment management system so it is easy to set up online transactions.

2. Enable eCommerce Capabilities: Make the most of your business website. If it was primarily for marketing purposes, add eCommerce capabilities to enable online payments. Not only will this help you reach your current clients, it gives you an opportunity to expand your footprint nationally or globally.

3. Utilize Alternative Digital Payment Options:

• Digital Invoicing: Even larger merchants can face challenges taking orders from customers over the phone with stores closed and associates working from home. With simple digital invoice options, sellers can send an email invoice allowing customers to pay online and pick up later, which helps the seller get paid faster. This is also a great option for services businesses – whether appliance repair or online streamed yoga classes!
  
  
• Virtual Terminal: Allows sellers to take an order over the phone and process using an online point of sale system.
  
  
• Mobile Point of Sale: With the iOS and Android mPOS app, key in payments and skip the signature – ideal for today’s goal of no-contact payments.

4. Reimagine the Checkout Experiences: For businesses that depend on “in-store” clients, it is critical to adapt to keep both customers and employees safe during this time. Using CyberSource’s Secure Acceptance Hosted Checkout, an automotive service chain enabled customers to book services at a service location and pay via a link sent to the customer’s phone. This fully enabled new touchless commerce experience was built within a week and helped continue business operations, increase customer satisfaction and employee safety.

5. Pay Now, Pick-Up Later: Enabling curbside pick-up and delivery has been critical for retailers large and small, as it maintains inventory flow and employment. CyberSource’s eCommerce payment solutions have enabled merchants to offer contact-free curbside pick-up.

Even large companies still need help shifting resources, tools and business models to address new consumer needs and changing habits. A major supermarket chain is utilizing CyberSource’s fraud management tool Decision Manager to help prevent hoarding of essential goods, for example. With the implementation, stores can limit purchase quantities for in-demand items like toilet paper or hand sanitizer.

Visa’s CyberSource solution and its small business arm Authorize.Net platform give businesses a 360-view into customers’ payment preferences, offer integrated digital payment solutions, fraud detection tools and more. They provide powerful new ways to make smarter decisions, drive revenue and engage with consumers through payments – whether you are an international retailer or a local nursery and garden chain.

To help with the sometimes-daunting task of digital transformation during a time when many businesses are already stretched – operationally and financially, Authorize.Net is waiving its gateway monthly fee for new merchants who sign up on the Authorize.Net website until August 1, 2020. The Authorize.Net gateway service includes access to several digital payment and fraud management tools.

Across the globe, we are seeing businesses shift and adapt like this to keep employees safe, and customers happy. Visa’s CyberSource and Authorize.Net teams are here to help you find and set up the right tools to quickly and easily accommodate your changing needs. With a variety of offerings that work together or on their own, we can quickly help merchants get online, build a remote payment solution, or manage new and unique fraud situations so you can focus on your customers.