E-commerce is currently one of the fastest-growing businesses globally, mainly due to the Covid-19 pandemic. At this time, many gamers decide on buying digital game keys from e-commerce gaming stores. This trend is only going to grow with time, due to the pandemic and simple convenience.
According to the Global Ecommerce Forecast 2021, e-commerce retail sales worldwide climbed by 25.7% in 2020, to a massive 4.213 trillion dollars, while total retail sales worldwide dropped by 2.8% in the same year. With so many brick-and-mortar stores being closed due to the pandemic, many businesses set their eyes on selling their goods online.
If you are looking to open your own online business or expand the existing one, this article will tell you how to choose the best payment methods, based on the example of the Kinguin.net marketplace.
Which payment method is the most popular?
Here are the three of the most commonly used payment methods out of all 100+ available at Kinguin.net:
- PayPal
With over 361 million active users, PayPal is one of the most common payment methods globally. In recent years, more than 50% of customers use this payment method at Kinguin.net. PayPal can be linked to a debit/credit card of either a business or personal account. It’s a perfect fit for an online store as it accepts and processes payments without any hassle.
As a seller, it is very important that your business information is safe and secure. Paypal has a seller protection program which depends on the country/state you’re in. This feature allows Sellers to oppose unauthorized transactions, disputes, and non-receive items.
The biggest advantage for the seller is that by using a registered email address, it can send payments worldwide instantly. This payment method can be used by both sellers and buyers, via desktop or mobile application.
For more information about Paypal, visit their website.
- Credit/Debit Card
Credit/Debit Cards are also one of the best and most commonly used payment methods as it allows to automatically deduct the payment amount from a personal or business account. Around 25% of all the transactions at Kinguin.net are made with credit and debit cards.
Once the user registers the account and uses their card as a payment method in an online store, he will be asked for the bank details. This is usually a one-time process.
One of the advantages of credit/debit cards is that, once the store has the details saved, it reduces hassle for both parties as the store doesn’t have to repeatedly inquire about the card data and the transaction happens more quickly. It is usually used for B2B transactions and for users who prefer online shopping.
- Bank Transfer
Around 5% of total transactions at Kinguin.net are based on bank transfers. This process allows the user to not disclose any information about their bank account. Bank transfer is also used if an online shopper or a business owner wants to top up funds to an online store. However, not all stores offer this as their payment option. If the user is enrolled in online banking, it allows them to transfer funds to another bank without any problem. This process can be done once or recurrently, depending on the user's need.
.png?width=23&name=%E2%80%9E%20(1).png){kind=small}
According to Jujelyn Villanueva, Sales Development Specialist at Kinguin, ‘PayPal, bank transfer and credit/debit cards are the most commonly used payment methods at Kinguin.net, a global gaming marketplace with over 10 million registered users. We usually suggest Bank Transfer to our biggest API partners, as it is easier to operate on a vast number of transactions.’
What is the payment process via Application Programming Integration (API) in Kinguin.net?
Kinguin API for e-commerce is a digital key distribution system based on the Application Programming Interface (API). It enables online stores, blogs, information websites, affiliate services, and all entrepreneurs operating on the Internet to monetize their business, utilizing the potential of the gaming industry customers. API is an intermediary software which allows two applications to “talk” to each other. With our API, Kinguin provides the sellers with services to integrate their stores with the marketplace and easily import product lists, containing current product attributes and prices determined by the seller themselves.
How does the payment process look like?
- The customer pays for the product via an external service. Kinguin is not involved at any stage of the purchase.
In order to pay via bank transfer you may use:
A direct deposit – the customer goes directly to their bank and deposits the money to where they want to send it.
Online banking – the customer who enrolled their account to the online banking can easily perform an online bank transfer. The only thing the customer needs is the bank account information of the person/company they want to transfer money to.
Customer support/direct message – on Kinguin.net, the customer has the option to directly contact customer support in case of having any difficulties sending the payment through. The customer can also send a direct message to the appropriate person in charge: Oskar Murglin (Delivery Manager) or Jujelyn Villanueva (Sales Development Specialist). - After a successful payment, the external store sends the information about the order to Kinguin.net. The so-called BALANCE is created, which means that Kinguin.net charges the user and continues the shipment of the order.
What is BALANCE?
Let’s use an example:
You are the owner of an online store, but you don’t currently have any games. You can connect to the Kinguin.net API and access over 24,000 digital gaming products and more.
Once you have access, if a customer buys the game in your store, then the funds are deducted from your BALANCE account, which is your Kinguin currency that you topped up earlier. If the customer does not sell any game in their shop, the money/balance will be refunded.
Balance, in a sense, freezes a certain amount of money. However, it does guarantee that the payment covers only the goods sold.
Summary:
To sum up, while choosing the best payment method, we should always consider which is the most convenient as well as the safest one. We must think about the privacy protection of our bank accounts as they always include personal information that may be used in a fraudulent transaction. Since it is very important for a gaming store to have online payments available, we should always choose the fastest way to complete it. In our opinion, PayPal is the most secure, quickest and convenient payment method as shown clearly by the preferences of our customers.
