With so many people talking about investing in crypto, NFTs, and other digital assets, the way people want to make purchases is changing in the marketplace. Fortunately, Shopify allows its users to accept cryptocurrencies. The only thing you need to do is make sure you have alternative payment methods enabled on your “payment providers” page. This page can be found in your Shopify admin dashboard.

What is cryptocurrency?

A cryptocurrency is a form of “virtual” currency that is transferred directly over the internet from person to person. It is a form of payment that can circulate without regulation by a monetary authority (like a bank or government). With many people growing more concerned about privacy and the involvement of governing bodies in the economy, crypto places responsibility back on the currency holder. This is an extremely important concept to some, so acknowledging this is especially important in business.

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What are the benefits to merchants accepting cryptocurrencies?

Besides being more accessible to more customers, accepting cryptocurrencies stand to benefit merchants in a variety of ways that traditional payments methods simply, don’t. Transactions occur instantaneously, with low processing fees both locally and internationally. Payments can easily convert to government-issued currencies or “fiat currencies” like USD, CAD, and GBP.

One feature of cryptocurrency that sets it even further apart from other payment methods is that it does not allow for chargebacks. As a merchant, you must consider the number of sales that might end up reversing as a result of a chargeback. Sometimes these situations are completely out of your hands and through no fault of your own. Any store that accepts credit cards is most likely going to experience chargebacks and inquiries in one form or another. While this is all part of the sales industry, you should always work to reduce waste in any form, whether it be time or resources. Any customer using cryptocurrency knows at the time of sale that they cannot dispute the purchase after the transaction is processed. As a result, you can count those sales as final as soon as the transaction completes.

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How to accept cryptocurrency in Shopify

While it might sound daunting to set up a crypto-enabled Shopify store, it’s actually just as easy as enabling any other shop feature. Simply go into your store admin section and look for the “payment providers” page. From here you should be able to enable one or more alternative payment methods from a list of options. These alternative methods include Coinbase Commerce, BitPay, and CoinPayments.net. You can enable all three or just use one, it’s up to you. Once that is complete, your store should be able to accept over 300 digital currencies including but not limited to: Ethereum, Bitcoin, and Litecoin.

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Conclusion

Anyone involved in the sale of goods and services should want to maximize their profits. One way to guarantee this is by expanding what you are willing to exchange for your goods and services. Eliminating chargebacks reduces some traditional risks all while making your products more accessible. You’ll still be charged transaction fees, but this can also be avoided if your country allows you to take part in Shopify Payments, another opt-in feature of the expansive eCommerce platform.

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