Shopify published happy news for all Shopify merchants and merchants considering Shopify as a platform. Shopify Payments and Shopify POS hardware is now available, also in Finland! For many Finnish merchants, at this point the question will certainly arise, what is Shopify Payments?
Shopify Payments is a simple way to receive and process payments in any sales channel without third-party service fees. With full potential, Shopify Payments enables a versatile selection of international payment methods, payment in the customer's own currency, centralized reporting to the Shopify platform, and Shopify POS hardware for agile store sales. Shopify Payments is available in limited countries, so here you can check the country-specific availability of Payments.
But what are the benefits of Shopify Payments now and in the future?
Shopify Payments in Finland
Many Finnish merchants are certainly thinking about what Shopify Payments would mean for their own business. With the inclusion of Payments, you get more payment methods in your store, such as Apple Pay and Google Pay. If your sales are only aimed to Finland, Shopify Payments does not bring a significant benefit in online payments at this point, because Payments does not support most common Finns payment methods.
If your sales are also aimed abroad, Shopify Payments enables a better customer experience and conversion rate thanks to multi-currency sales. By using Payments, you can receive payments in the customer's currency, even if the default currency of your store is different, thus promoting your international sales. In other words, your customers will be able to view your store's prices, pay for orders, and receive returns in their local currency. The currency conversion rate is determined by the current exchange rate, you can define it yourself or price the products differently in different currencies. Currency conversion is affected by the level of your Shopify contract, check out the features in Shopify's instructions.
Shopify POS hardware
Another big innovation for Finnish Shopify merchants is Shopify POS hardware. Using Payments in your brick-and-mortar store enables agile payment traffic without third-party payment terminals. In this case, the amount to be charged is integrated directly into the payment terminal, which eliminates the additional payment amount entry and reduces typing errors of the amount to be charged. Wisepad 3 payment terminal supports card payments in addition to the popular Google and Apple Pay mobile payment methods.
If you don't have a brick-and-mortar business yet, read our latest blog about how and why it's worth it.
Payments pricing
Shopify Payments payment commissions vary according to your Shopify contract. When the customer uses Shopify Payments as a payment method, the Shopify transaction fee of the third-party payment method (0.5%-2%) is removed from the merchant's expenses. If you only make sales in your home country, Payments as the only payment method is not necessarily the most sensible, in which case we recommend keeping e.g. Paytrail as a payment method for domestic sales in Finland.
You can always calculate commissions for payment methods based on, for example, the latest monthly sales. Download the table here.
Last words
Currently, Shopify Payments brings good added value to merchants who do international sales and use the Shopify POS system in their brick-and-mortar store. At this point, we would like to remind you that Payments does not replace all current payment methods, but rather brings added value to business and opportunities for international sales.
If you are wondering how you could use Shopify Payments or what payment methods you can use internationally as a Finnish merchant, we will be happy to help you find the most effective solutions. Feel free to contact us here.