A Payments Web Page
When you want to sell something on your website
- People need a way to indicate what they want.
- Then they need a way to pay you.
- After payment, you deliver their purchase.
This article is a general overview. The article's purpose is to clarify what needs to be done to sell on your website.
The Products
Whether you have one product or many, the potential buyer needs a way to indicate what they want to buy. It may be a simple page with a place to click or it may be a complex shopping cart.
Here is an example product.
If only one product is for sale on the website, the "Tap to Buy" button would take the person directly to the payment mechanism.
Otherwise, the "Tap to Buy" button would add the product to the buyer's shopping cart. (The button could be labeled "Add to Cart" instead of "Tap to Buy".) When the buyer is ready to check out, then they would be taken to the payment mechanism.
The Payment Mechanism
The payment mechanism is where the buyer completes their purchase.
It may be on the same web page as the product if all your products fit on one page. If you use a shopping cart, the payment mechanism generally is on a web page by itself.
If you charge for shipping or handling, the amount needs to be added to the total before payment is made. You might have a flat fee for shipping and handling or you might have a database lookup to determine shipping amounts depending on the product's shipping destination.
If you charge sales tax for destinations to certain geographical areas, the tax needs to be added to the total before payment is made.
Because you are not a bank, payments need to go through a payment gateway. The payment gateway can act like a bank for you — even though the gateway is just a service acting as an agent.
Stripe is the payment gateway we use on our websites for credit card purchases, so I'll use that one for reference. We also provide the means for buyers to pay through their PayPal account, so I'll refer to that, too.
You actually only need one payment gateway. I mention two here because they are the most common.
When the buyer arrives at the web page with the payment mechanism, they may find a choice of how to pay.
Payment By Credit Card
With Stripe as the payment gateway, the credit card information is collected on your website. The information is submitted to the Stripe website. When the credit card is approved, the order can be completed.
Payment By PayPal
With PayPal as the payment gateway, the buyer is sent to the PayPal website. When payment is arranged, the buyer is returned to your website and the order can be completed.
Completing the Order
When payment has been arranged, your website provides a confirmation message or redirects the buyer to a confirmation page.
Your software sends a confirmation email to the buyer. (You would have collected their email address with the payment form (if Stripe) or PayPal would have provided you with their email address.)
Now, the only thing left to do is to get the product to the buyer.
If the product needs to be shipped, you ship it. If the product is an electronic download, the buyer is directed to a download link.
Happy sales to you!
Will Bontrager
