Every business owner is always on the hunt for new customers. But getting new customers is just the first step. Every business owner wants to get and keep new customers.
Customer retention is the lifeline of every business. As an entrepreneur, it’s critical to come up with new and creative ways to market your business to new customers before your revenue starts to dip or stagnate.
There are various ways businesses can attract new customers, among them offering of discounts, seasonal launches, and special campaigns. In a world where technology use in business is evolving at a fast rate, one of the ways you can get to attract and keep more new customers is by inculcating modern and innovative service methods to your business, such as the use of efficient payment methods.
This will in turn give your customers the convenience, safety and efficiency they are looking for in the market, beyond the product and service you offer.
According to e-commerce consultant Eddie Ogutu, failing to provide a specific payment method can result in up to 50 per cent of users abandoning their shopping carts at checkout.
This underlines the importance of having different payment methods in your business to serve various customers with different needs.
To give you insights on some of the most efficient and convenient payment methods in the market, Bizna Kenya sampled the online payment solution that Co-op Bank is offering to small businesses in Kenya.
The lender has various contactless payment solutions, among them the E-commerce solution that enables businesses to receive card payment through their websites or app
”Chapa Pay e-commerce solution allows you to receive online card payments from your customers directly into your Co-op Bank account.’’ Co-op Bank states.
How does Co-op Bank e-commerce solution work without a website?
The merchant receives a unique link (Pay-By-Link) which they will use to invoice their customers. Once the merchant and the customer agree on the pricing, the merchant sends the payment link to the customer’s email address.
The customer will receive an invoice with the link on their email. The link will open up a portal where the customer will insert their card details and the amount they are to pay.
Once the payment goes through, the merchant will receive a payment confirmation via email and SMS. The customer will also receive a notification via SMS in the event they have subscribed to SMS alerts with their card provider.
Advantages of Chapa Pay e-commerce Solution (Pay-By-Link) Option:
The merchant does not incur any cost to get the Pay-By-Link solution. It is FREE to get onboarded. In addition, the solution is secure because it is 3D secure, with two-factor authentication for all card payments.
Co-op bank notes that in the event a customer makes a wrong payment, the merchant can reverse the payment without calling the bank for a reversal.
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The customer cannot reverse a payment, therefore reducing the risks to merchants, to lose money from dubious characters.
Moreover, payment reconciliation is easy for the merchant since they can track payments and view payments from a single dashboard.
Other contactless payment solutions offered by the bank include:
- POS solution– merchants don’t need to handle cash. The customers can pay for their goods and services via card at a Co-op Bank POS terminal.
- M-Pesa Paybill 400200 – Customers can pay directly into the merchants’ Co-op Bank account via M-Pesa paybill number 400200
- M-Pesa paybill 400222–This solution is ideal for schools, landlords/landladies, or merchants that receive bulk payments.
