Lately, we’ve heard from several WordJack clients telling us they want to start some basic selling on their website. When we look into their requirements or even the size of the opportunity, it feels like they may not be ready for a full e-commerce website, and a simple “pay now” button from PayPal would be a good customer experience, while being quick and cost-effective to implement.
Deciding between a PayPal “buy now” button and full e-commerce
We’d suggest a “pay now” button is adequate when:
- You already have a PayPal business or pro account (no, a personal account won’t cut it!)
- Your customers tend to purchase only one product at a time (so an “add to cart and keep shopping” experience is not necessary)
- You want to get set up quickly and cheaply and prove a demand for your products online
- You only have 3-5 products, and they don’t vary much in price or detail
We typically recommend an e-commerce solution for our clients when:
- You have more than 5 products you want to sell
- Your customers purchase many products at a time (or you want them to) – this is often made easy for customers with shopping cart functionality
- You want your product pages to be high ranking pages in Google searches
- You offer discounts or coupons and want to be able to promote with coupons or limited-time pricing
- You offer different shipping options, or your products cost a different price depending on where they ship
- You charge different tax rates depending on customer location
- You want to offer “recommended products” that go well with others the client is viewing
- You don’t want your customer to go “offsite” (to PayPal) to make a payment (you want them to do it all on your website’s own credit card payment form)
- You have various other features that may require a more specialized shopping experience for your customers.
Creating your “buy now” button
Your WordJack marketing manager can get your buttons embedded on your website, but you need to configure your buttons/products (one button for each product). PayPal is very strict about who logs in and from where, so this is not a step WordJack can do for you, but here’s a simple video that explains how to create the code for each button:
Before you get started, it’s important to ask your marketing manager to create a “thank you page” and give you the link. This is not anything complex; it just needs to look something like this:
A thank you page provides a much better customer experience after they have paid you on PayPal, as it confirms that you got the payment and acknowledges their order. So with a thank you page, your customer’s experience of buying from your site will be:
This can be a very quick and simple way to get payments set up on your WordJack site if your business is not yet ready for a full ecommerce or shopping cart experience. Please contact your WordJack web marketing manager to set this up. Or contact us if you’d like to talk to a WordJack media consultant about your web marketing goals.
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WordJack Media provides a wide range of website design and online marketing solutions to clients throughout Canada and the US, including Collingwood ON, Ottawa ON, Barrie ON, Miami FL, Lakeland FL, Orlando FL, Charlotte NC, Hickory NC, Asheville NC and more. Contact WordJack Media today for more information about how we can help your business win on the web!
