Grasp the peak sales season: how to select a payment gateway for my business?

Since the peak sales season is the annual revenue peak for e-commerce businesses, it can directly affect the annual performance of companies and, thus, may have an impact on their development plans. This article will let you know how payment gateways can affect your sales and bring you operational challenges. You’ll also learn how to choose the right payment gateway for your business.

When is Hong Kong’s peak sales season?

Fall and Winter are traditionally the peak seasons of the retail industry. They are the busiest days of the year for both physical and eCommerce stores. According to the government, the estimated total retail sales value in December 2023 showed a year-on-year increase of 7.8%, reaching HK$36.3 billion.

Aside from Christmas in December, the Double 11 Shopping Festival originated from mainland China (November 11) and Black Friday in the United States (the last Friday of November) have become increasingly trending in Hong Kong in recent years and brought a lot of business opportunities to Hong Kong retailers and e-commerce businesses.

How does the performance of payment gateway affect the peak sales season revenue?

Choosing the right payment gateway is crucial for revenue. A joint survey conducted by Airwallex and global strategy consulting firm Edgar, Dunn & Company in January 2024 found that 77% of over 3,000 consumers from around the world might abandon the items in their shopping carts if they couldn’t use their preferred payment methods.

This shows that “whether a payment gateway can provide customers with their preferred payment methods” can directly affect their purchasing decisions. The impact of your payment gateway will be especially significant during the busiest seasons for transactions. Furthermore, different payment gateways have varying charges on each transaction, which can accumulate into significant expenses and erode your substantial profits during the peak sales season.

How to ensure that my payment gateway can handle the peak sales season?

A payment gateway is a third-party payment system that connects online stores with financial institutions. It offers various payment options such as mainstream credit cards and e-wallets for customers. Therefore, connecting to a suitable payment is the first step for e-commerce shops in preparing for the peak sales season.

1. Providing local payment methods to global customers

According to the survey mentioned above, although credit cards and debit cards remain the most commonly used payment methods globally, more and more consumers, including 37% from Australia, 33% from the United Kingdom and 27% from the United States, are switching to use global e-wallets, such as Apple Pay, Google Pay and PayPal. Nearly half of Chinese interviewees (48%) indicated a preference for using local e-wallets, including Alipay and WeChat Pay. 

Global e-commerce businesses which have customers located all around the world are advised to enable customers from different countries and regions to use their local payment methods so as to expand their customer base.

2. The new shopping trend: Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL)

“Buy Now, Pay Later” is a new shopping mode that has emerged in Western countries in recent years. When customers make a purchase, a third-party platform pays a partial amount, and the customers will have to pay for the amount in installments to the platform within a specified period.

The major difference between BNPL and credit cards is that the former does not require strict credit history checks by banks. For most e-commerce businesses, offering the BNPL payment method can help expand their customer base to groups that may have difficulty applying for credit cards, such as students and freelancers.

Klarna and Afterpay are both popular payment platforms that offer “Buy Now, Pay Later” in the overseas market. Although they don’t directly support payments in Hong Kong, online stores can still accept payments through them by integrating their systems with specific payment gateways.

Preparing for the peak sales seasons: Comparing four major payment gateways

Stripe and PayPal are currently the most commonly used payment gateways among local and international e-commerce businesses. Mainstream online shop platforms Shopify and SHOPLINE are also offering their own payment gateways, which can be directly used when opening a store on their platform.

Connect Airwallex Payments in minutes to boost your global sales

Aside from the payment gateways above, there are also other financial and remittance platforms that offer plugins in the market, such as Airwallex.

1. Supports 160+ types of payment methods and 180+ currencies

Airwallex provides an all-in-one global payment service that allows businesses to receive funds easily without the need for programming. Online shops can accept over 160 types of payment methods, including credit cards, FPS, AlipayHK and WeChat Pay, simply by integrating with a plugin. Airwallex also supports overseas “Buy Now, Pay Later” platforms, such as Klarna and Afterpay.

Airwallex also allows businesses to receive payments in over 180 currencies. It provides market-leading rates and helps businesses eliminate unnecessary foreign exchange fees by settling transactions in the same currency.

2. Saves FX costs when paying overseas suppliers in multiple currencies

Airwallex does not charge any account opening or monthly fees. When paying overseas suppliers, you can transact from you multi-currency account directly, 90% of which are completed via local payment rails without any transaction fees, allowing businesses to maximise their earnings. Airwallex provides market-leading FX rates for international transactions, with no hidden fees at all. 

3. Values transaction security

Airwallex prioritises transaction security and adopts top-notch security technologies, such as tokenisation and the latest version of 3DS - 3DS 2, to ensure transaction security. Airwallex’s machine learning engine includes features such as automatic retries and ISO message optimization to help improve conversion rates for e-commerce businesses.

Create a Business Account now and connect with the Airwallex plugin in minutes to get prepared for the upcoming peak sales season! Please feel free to contact us at any time if you would like to learn more.

Sources: Information on other payment gateway providers was retrieved as of July 2024, from below sources. Information provided is for reference only. Please refer to the official websites for the most up-to-date details

1. https://www.paypal.com/hk/webapps/mpp/contact-us?locale.x=zh_HK

2. https://www.paypal.com/hk/webapps/mpp/paypal-safety-and-security?locale.x=zh_HK

3. https://stripe.com/zh-cn-hk/pricing/local-payment-methods

4. https://docs.stripe.com/security?locale=zh-CN

5. https://stripe.com/zh-cn-hk/pricing/local-payment-methods

6. https://help.shopify.com/zh-TW/support/login

7. https://www.shopify.com/hk/pricing

8. https://help.shopify.com/zh-TW/manual/payments/fraud-prevention

9. https://shopline.hk/faq/about

10. https://support.shoplineapp.com/hc/zh-tw/articles/900004617183-常見問題-SHOPLINE-Payments#h_01G3T354V03F1Q2KES7WD7NG8A

11. https://features.shopline.hk/payments/

12. https://blog.shopline.hk/shopline-payments/#:~:text=SHOPLINE%20Payments%20交易系統符合,提升訂單交易成功率%E3%80%82

13. https://support.shoplineapp.com/hc/zh-tw/articles/900004617183-常見問題-SHOPLINE-Payments#h_01G3T354V03F1Q2KES7WD7NG8A

Disclaimer: The information was based on our own online research and we were not able to manually test each tool or provider. The information is provided for educational purposes only and a reader should consider the specific requirements of their business when evaluating providers. This research is reviewed every 6 months. If you would like to request an update, feel free to contact us at [email protected].