There are people operating online businesses that have not added credit card processing but when I think of them the image of a dinosaur comes to mind. Especially those that could not adapt to the changes in the world and simply faded into the background one by one. I say this because I can't imagine anyone with an e-store that does not offer credit card online processing services could be long for this world - as a business entity that is.
There are those people out there who stubbornly hold on to the old ways no matter how high a mountain of evidence is placed before them. Who knows how many fortunes were lost by those tethered to radio as a major entertainment medium when television was starting to pick up steam. And no doubt there were some people who thought dial-up Internet service would never go away. And let's not forget those who looked at CNN and thought it would never last a year.
With the Internet being such a dynamic and growing medium, it is hard to think that there are people who had the foresight to place a business online but not to offer merchant account services. If nothing else the math should be their tipping factor.
More than one study has shown that 80 percent of all goods and services that are purchase over the Internet are paid for using a credit card. And the projections are for that number to continue to go higher.
So anyone not adding online credit card services, essentially, is banking on the fact they can scratch out enough business from those not using credit cards for their e-shopping - that group that accounts for less than 20 percent. Now, I don't think you need to hold an MBA from Harvard to realize that a small audience that is projected to get smaller is not where you want to base your future longevity.
There, too, is the factor of how it plays to that majority group of consumers shopping on the Internet. Not adding online merchant account services sends the message to them that their business is not a concern or yours - that you don't need them. Again, probably not the communication that is going to keep your business running smoothly and growing in the months ahead.
What might be useful would be to find out what the objections are to credit card processing for an Internet store.
Some might look at the fees and decide the proposition is too much, but virtually every e-business owner will tell you those monthly fees are more than paid for by increase sales and profits.
Others may think that merchant services are for bigger business, but there are legions of mom-and-pop operations that accept credit cards.
And others may think it's too complicated to add credit card processing, but the application takes less than 15 minutes.
So if you are one of those businesses operating on the 'net without being able to accept payments online, now might be a great time to re-think that decision. Again, credit card usage online is only going to grow, so there's going to be plenty of customers to go around.
Jim Osterman is a Web contact developer with CardAccept.com, a leading Internet merchant account provider, offering innovative credit card processing solutions.
