The majority of purchases made online in the United States are paid using credit or debit cards. Worldwide, however, other payment methods are more popular. In fact, in some countries, less than half of purchases are made via credit card. E-Commerce outlets that don’t take these other payment methods into account are actively limiting their income potential.

To put this into context, recent studies show that E-Commerce sites offering four or more payment methods convert at a full 22% higher rate. In other words, adding wire transfers, PayPal, direct debit and local bank transfers can actually increase an online merchant’s conversion rate from the low 60% level to the low 80% level. With a projected E-Commerce purchase volume expected to reach over $355 Billion in North America alone over the next three years, failing to meet this requirement qualifies as a substantial business risk.

More specifically, the online spending of Europe is expected to match that of North America by 2011 or so. However, more Europeans do not hold a true credit card than do (except in the United Kingdom, where slightly over 60% hold a credit card). In the key demographics, this is even more pronounced: 53% of European consumers in the 16 – 24 age group have no credit card. The behavior exhibited in E-Commerce is therefore predictable: 56% of purchases from Germany are paid with electronic bank transfers, as are 43% of those in the Netherlands and Sweden.

Adding payment methods to an in-house E-Commerce solution can be complex and problematic. While connecting to a credit card processing service, or to an online payment method like PayPal, is relatively simple, adding Direct Debit, electronic funds transfer or systems like Germany’s Giropay require extensive development and paperwork.

A hosted E-Commerce platform such as the one offered by Plimus eliminates much of this complexity. With Plimus, merchants implicitly have access to the primary preferred payment methods for each region where they do business. In Germany, merchants have access to local systems like Giropay and Sofortueberweisung; in Japan, Virtual Currency; in the Netherlands, Ydeal; and so forth. As there is no additional cost for these methods, nor integration required to add them the merchant’s portfolio, the ROI on a potential 22% conversion growth is clearly substantial.

Click here to learn more about the payment methods offered, and for more details about the Plimus service.