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Electronic commerce has brought about a radical change in our purchasing habits. Where before we had to go to a physical store, look at the items, choose the ones we liked and pay for them at the checkout, now everything can be done through the Internet, comfortably from home.
The rise of eCommerce has been such that in the market we can find multiple solutions for implement our own online store relatively easily and without the need for large investments.
In the case of WordPress, its popular plugin for , offers everything you need to be able to create, configure, implement and manage our online store, without having to have advanced technical knowledge, beyond those of page editing.
The main technological barrier that we can find in this environment affects online payment methods, in which safety and reliability They are essential to gain the trust of the consumer user.
And, in this regard, PayPal offers one of the most consolidated online payment platforms, allowing various payment methods, especially for those consumers who already have a PayPal account.
In this article, we are going to focus on one of the PayPal services, PayPal Express (or, also, PayPal CheckOut)which can be easily integrated into WordPress and WooCommerce, so that users can select the payment method that interests them from a secure, robust and trusted environment.
What is an online payment gateway?
An online payment gateway, or system, facilitates carrying out an economic operation (money transfer) through the transmission of the data of said operation, in a manner equivalent to that which would be carried out at a physical point of sale.
Thus, the buyer of an online store can make the payment through a gateway using credit cards, debit cards or a bank account. The payment gateway protects the details of both the cards and the account as well as the transaction itself.
In addition to using secure HTTPS connections, they have high security encryption to store and manage the confidential data it contains, so that this information is not only transmitted securely between the buyer and the online store website, but that no one can access it, except the user himself.
The operation of a payment gateway is transparent to the user who carries out the transaction, who only has to indicate the payment method and enter the card or bank account data, with the guarantee that this information will not be stolen or used fraudulently.
In addition, thanks to the payment gateway, the seller also gets the security and guarantee to obtain payment in a reliable and advanced manner, streamlining its sales process and its own accounting and stock management.
How does an online payment gateway work?
In general, when a purchase is made over the internet and a payment gateway is used to pay the final price of the cart, the following steps are followed, in two different environments (websites):
On the website of the online store:
- The buyer navigates through the product catalog of the store and select and add to the shopping cart those that are of interest to you.
- When the purchase has been completed, the customer reviews the content of the shopping cart and, if everything is correct, proceed with the payment of its total price, among the different modalities available, by clicking on the corresponding payment button.
- By clicking on this button, the user is automatically redirected to the web pages of the payment gateway.
On the website of the online payment gateway:
- If the payment gateway used supports user accounts (for example, PayPal) and the buyer has an account with it, you must log in with your account name and password.
- If you have logged in with a user account, select between payment methods that you have enabled in said gateway.
- In case the payment gateway does not have user accounts, the buyer must enter data corresponding to the method of payment chosen (for example, credit card).
- The buyer confirm the purchase and its amountand the payment gateway reviews and checks that it is valid (ie whether the payment has been completed successfully or not).
- With the result of the payment, the user is automatically redirected back to the web pages of the online store.
On the website of the online store:
- If the online payment has been completed successfully, it displays a purchase confirmation page, with the order data and additional information of interest to the user.
- In the event that there has been a problem, a page will be displayed indicating the reason for the error, offering alternatives to continue and complete the purchase.
In this navigation flow, it is important to point out that bank details, whether card or account, never pass through the owner of the online store, but are only communicated to the payment gateway.
In this way, all confidential information is only managed and recorded on the same website, increasing transaction security.
Why integrate an online payment gateway?
Let us highlight in this section the main reasons why an online store should integrate a payment gateway to complete the purchases of its products.
- Security. This should be the main priority of a payment gateway, as it is handling financial information and bank details.
Thus, customers must have the guarantee that this information will remain secure when buying in the online store, whatever the payment method chosen. - User experience. Through the payment gateway, buyers have a simple and consistent payment system, where they can quickly complete the payment. In addition, through it you can use the main credit and debit cards, as well as cash transfers from your bank accounts.
- Centralization. All the information related to the payment (such as the digits of the credit card) are only managed by the payment gateway, preventing this data from being scattered on multiple websites and, therefore, preventing it from being stolen or used fraudulently.
- Transaction monitoring. On all websites, web analytics (for example, with Google Analytics) is essential to evaluate digital marketing strategies. In this sense, it is even more relevant, since each visit that does not convert is a lost opportunity to obtain profit.
In this sense, a payment gateway, since all transactions are recorded in it, makes it easier for the seller to evaluate and analyze sales and income trends over time.
- International payments. In the case of serving products abroad, a payment gateway facilitates this type of transaction, regardless of the respective physical locations of the buyer and seller. After all, the Internet has global reach and customers can visit a store from anywhere.
- Buyer protection. In general, the payment gateways have mechanisms for claiming the buyer so that, in the event that the seller does not complete the order (for example, does not send the products), he can claim a refund of the money paid.
What is PayPalExpress?
PayPal Express is PayPal’s payment system to make the online purchase and payment process as easy as possible for the user. A) Yes, integrates the entire purchasing process of a store from the web page of the shopping cart to the review and confirmation of the online payment.
The main advantage of PayPal Express is that a user who has a PayPal account does not need to enter the details of the shipping address, nor of the credit card, debit card or bank account.
You just have to enter your username and password, review the amount of the purchase made and confirm payment of the total amount.
On the other hand, PayPal Express allows the configuration of all web pages that intervene in the purchase process, such as the logo, the colors and the type of information that the user must review and confirm (such as the shipping address or the payment method).
Given that the lack of trust It is one of the main reasons why many potential buyers abandon an online purchase process, with PayPal Express it is intended to overcome that psychological barrier.
Thus, thanks to PayPal Express, the user is certain that their bank details are registered and managed by a consolidated entitysuch as PayPal, avoiding having to enter them in each online store where you complete a purchase.
In addition, by having PayPal store user data, with PayPal Express the customer can complete and pay for an online purchase with just two mouse clicks, without having to enter your personal data and bank details in each online store.
Differences between PayPal Standard and PayPal Express
PayPal Standard is another service that PayPal provides and that, as we will see later, is included by default in the WooCommerce e-commerce plugin for WordPress.
With PayPalStandard, the buyer is redirected to the PayPal site once they have completed the online purchase, to make the payment there, whether they have a PayPal account or not. Once the payment is completed in PayPal, it notifies the online store so that it stores the order in its databases.
For its part, PayPalExpress offers two payment options to buyers of an online store, depending on the time of payment of the purchase:
- The user is redirected to the PayPal website to log into their account BEFORE completing the payment in the online store. This way, they can select address information and shipping options.
- The user is redirected to the PayPal website to log in to their account AFTER you have selected the options shipping, payment and, if applicable, discount coupons…
As with PayPal Standard, with the Express Checkout option, the buyer can pay without having a PayPal account (as long as the online store has that option enabled in its settings).
Installation of PayPal Express in WordPress with WooCommerce
Now that we know how it works and the advantages of PayPal Express as a payment gateway to pay for online purchases, let’s see how we can integrate it into a WordPress website with WooCommerce.
To do this, if we have not yet installed WooCommerce, we will first see how to install it and leave it ready to later add the connection with the PayPal Express payment gateway.
Then, we will see two different plugins, and that add PayPal Express as a payment method in WooCommerce, and how both are configured.
Both plugins offer practically the same functionalities and characteristics, when selecting one or the other we can consider the following factors:
- Idiom. The plugin…