Last updated on December 9th, 2024 at 10:29 am
Do you desire exploring opportunities for crypto in e-commerce?
The term cryptocurrency has firmly lodged in the public consciousness. Though the technical aspects of crypto remain skeptical to the public, there’s a growing sense that it’ll influence how we interact with money.
While e-commerce has a significant feature of the digital world and the accelerated growth of global e-commerce from $3.354 trillion in 2019 to $4.981 Trillion. E-commerce has emerged as a gold mine, but it has been plagued with payment challenges.
Although cryptocurrency and e-commerce have stood out in a fast-evolving digital landscape, what was subject to experimentation has become a big player for online transactions. Furthermore, we’ll discuss exploring opportunities for crypto in e-commerce.
What is Cryptocurrency?
Cryptocurrency is a digital or virtual payment system that’s secured by cryptography from theft or fraud. It is a peer-to-peer ecosystem that enables anyone, anywhere, to send or receive money by using digital wallets or exchanges.
The Emergence of Cryptocurrency in Ecommerce
Cryptocurrency is on a spontaneous rise in the e-commerce space. Its recent rise in stock is a testament to its seamless transactions through transparency and decentralization of blockchain technology.
Furthermore, blockchain technology improves efficiency, security, reduction in transaction fees, and faster payment fee processing for both merchants and consumers.
Overcoming Challenges
Though there’s a surge in crypto adoption by e-commerce stores, this hasn’t been without peculiar challenges on the path to wider acceptance.The crypto price volatility, regulatory uncertainties, and lack of digital currency mechanisms are prevalent hurdles that need to be sorted. Although these challenges can be surmounted to enjoy the benefits of cryptocurrencies for a new trajectory of coalescence between crypto and e-commerce.
Price Volatility
Cryptocurrency market value is volatile, making it less reliable than fiat currencies. This poses a huge challenge for wider adoption among consumers and merchants.
Scepticism
There’s a lack of public trust about cryptocurrency caused by technical mechanisms and also public awareness. This has led to an untapped large consumer market.
Benefits of Cryptocurrencies To Ecommerce
Lower Transaction Cost
Blockchain transaction cost is lower than traditional e-commerce cost. When brands process payments through traditional payment, it’s cost between 3-5% on each transaction compared to cryptocurrency, which charges about 1%.
Increased Security
The decentralization of blockchain provides security and efficiency to reduce fraud and cyberattacks and build brand trust.
Market Expansion
There’s a rise in public acceptance of cryptocurrency across the globe. Adoption of crypto to your payment could widen your target market and increase customers.
The Role of Cryptocurrency in Ecommerce
Cryptocurrency offers a secure and efficient new alternative to payment for online retailers. With a handful of brands adopting this cryptocurrency payment.
PayPal
PayPal recently launched checkout with crypto to allow customers to buy from online stores using crypto coins. All cryptocurrencies can be stored on the PayPal digital wallet and converted to fiat currencies at checkout with no additional fees.
Expedia
How To Accept Cryptocurrency For E-commerce Transaction
If an online business decides to accept cryptocurrencies for e-commerce transactions, it needs to consider some technical and operational aspects. First, they need to choose a cryptocurrency or a combination of cryptocurrencies that suits their business model and target market. Second, they need to select a cryptocurrency wallet and a payment gateway that can securely store and process cryptocurrency transactions. Third, they need to integrate the cryptocurrency payment system with their website and shopping cart, as well as their accounting and reporting systems. Read this article to understand more about cryptocurrency transactions for e-commerce.
BitPay
BitPay provides a simple and reliable blockchain payment for online transactions. Business owners can sign up here to get started with a BitPay account.
BitPay integrates popular e-commerce store shopping cart software through its plugins and code libraries that allow developers to focus on payment flows. Read this article to learn more about BitPay plugins.
Coinbase Commerce
Coinbase Commerce is a top gateway payment that accepts Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, and Litecoin within its online shop checkout. Although Coinbase is limited to only the above-mentioned currencies, it’s best for Shopify and WooCommerce.
For integration of chosen currency on Coinbase Commerce. There’s a need to whitelist the domain and create an API key to authenticate API requests, and then you add your webhook URLs.
CoinGate
CoinGate provides a wide selection of cryptocurrencies and seamless payment workflow that allows users to complete transactions. CoinGate accepts Bitcoin payments and has plugins that are suitable for Hostinger, Wix, Magento, ShopWare, WordPress, WHMCS, WooCommerce, etc. Read this article for more information.
NOWPayment
NOWPayments is a payment gateway that’s ahead of the curve by incorporating crypto payment for online stores.
NOWPayments payment gateway can fully integrate major CMS solutions like Magento, WooCommerce, ZenCart, Prestashop, Shopify, OpenCart, and WHMCS. It also has a payment gateway API that offers instant payment notification and customized integration of crypto payment services into websites, mobile apps, or platforms.
Bitcoin is the fastest and most popular digital currency, but there are other coins such as Ethereum, Cardano, Ripple, Dogecoin, and Litecoin. With this, it’s important to give businesses the ability to pay with different mediums.
Conclusion
Amidst the barriers, there is undoubtedly immense potential for cryptocurrency in the e-commerce space. Its ability to streamline transactions, reduce processing fees, and offer a decentralized and secure method of payment could revolutionize how we conduct online transactions. By eliminating intermediaries and providing faster cross-border payments, cryptocurrency creates an opportunity for businesses to expand their customer base globally while enhancing financial inclusivity.
However, to fully realize this potential, challenges such as regulatory uncertainty, technological barriers, and consumer trust must be addressed. As the industry evolves and solutions to these obstacles are developed, the integration of cryptocurrency into e-commerce could pave the way for a more efficient, transparent, and accessible global marketplace. Businesses and consumers alike should keep an eye on this dynamic space, as it has the potential to transform online shopping into a truly borderless experience.
FAQ
What is the practical use of cryptocurrencies in e-commerce and global payments?
Compared with credit card payments, crypto payments have faster settlement cycles and can be cheaper due to lower transaction costs. Crypto payment services have the potential to build a borderless payment network with the ability to enable seamless transfer of crypto payments from anywhere across the globe.
Does Shopify offer crypto payments?
Shopify has made accepting crypto payments quick and easy. Here’s how to add crypto payments to Shopify. Before customers can pay in cryptocurrency, you’ll have to activate your preferred payment provider.
How do I add crypto payments to my ecommerce store?
Log into the Admin of the store you would like to install Crypto.com Pay. Click “Settings” at the bottom-left, and select “Payments” at the left menu. Navigate to the “Supported payment methods” section and click “Add payment methods”.
