What a Hosted Checkout Means for Merchants

Many retailers have adopted the use of a hosted checkout page to manage payments for online purchases. If you are new to online sales or if you are launching a new business, you should learn more about hosted checkout pages and their benefits so that you can better serve your customers and manage operations.

Understanding What a Hosted Checkout Is

In order to accept online payments for purchases, your website must have a shopping cart feature that is easy to use. This page of your website must also have a secure payment portal. While you could set up and manage your own checkout page, you may prefer to take advantage of the benefits of a hosted checkout page. This is a page that is designed, hosted and managed by a third-party payment facilitator rather than by your business. When you consider that many online shoppers abandon items in their shopping cart because of issues related to security as well as because of a complicated or lengthy purchase experience, it makes sense to learn more about hosted checkout pages today.

The Benefits of a Hosted Checkout

When your website uses a hosted checkout page, you can take the hassle and time out of managing this important page. Many providers of hosted pages have a few designs that you can choose from, and these are proven page designs that are easy for your customers to navigate and that have a relatively low abandonment percentage. Some providers allow you to customize the page to varying degrees. You may be able to accept alternative forms of payments, serve international customers and even accept mobile payments from smartphones and other similar devices. With so many benefits associated with hosted checkout pages, it makes sense to explore the platforms and providers available in greater detail.

How to Find the Right Hosted Checkout Platform

The hosted checkout providers and their platforms vary considerably, and the cost is only one of many factors that you should pay attention to when making a comparison. For example, you should review the platform or pages that you can choose from, and you need to familiarize yourself with the many customization capabilities. You also should be aware of limitations related to geographic locations served and the acceptable payment methods. Reliability and support should be reviewed carefully. Keep in mind that downtime equates to lost sales, so the provider that you choose should provide around-the-clock support and have a rapid response time for service requests.

Using a hosted checkout page is a veritable necessity for many businesses today, but you must make an informed decision in order to maximize the benefits. Take your time exploring all of the available options thoroughly so that you can identify the best solution available for your business.