Payments are an integral part of any business. Used correctly, they can add flexibility, simplify processes, and empower a better experience for your customers. You may even be able to save some money.

How so? Often it comes down to increasing clarity around the payment. At other times, it’s about deciding strategically who pays what, or when certain payments get made. But most importantly it’s about thinking carefully about payments, how they’re used in your business, and what you could do so they have a bigger impact on your overall success.

Here are three ideas to consider.

Shipping fees are unavoidable factors in doing business, particularly when exporting goods to one or more countries. But there are some ways in which to make them work for your benefit.

One is to review how much you are shipping, from where and where to. If you ship frequently, you may be able to receive personalised rates from your carrier. These can save money on standard fees, so it’s worth looking into. You may also be able to reduce the cost of shipping fees by being smart in your delivery locations, such as by promoting delivering to retail pick-up points rather than home addresses, or by de-prioritising speed and offering slightly longer delivery times.

And depending on where you ship your goods to and from, third-party billing can be used to boost convenience levels and simplify your processes. For example, if you ship from a warehouse or fulfilment centre in one country, and deliver to a customer in another, you can be billed in your own currency even if you are in a third country separate to both the origin and destination.

Third-party billing can also be used to take advantage of advantageous shipping rates. For example, if you have better rates available than your fulfilment centre, it could make sense to be billed as a third-party, rather than the fulfilment centre paying the fees themselves and invoicing you later. This may also make your accounting procedures more straightforward.

Similarly, if your customer (the end-receiver) is due to pay shipping fees, they may wish these to be handled by a third-party – perhaps because they are buying on behalf of a separate unit within their own business and they want that unit to be responsible for the costs incurred. Enabling this increases convenience for them and could help strengthen your relationship.

Customs clearance is one of the major stumbling blocks for both businesses wishing to export and customers wishing to buy cross-border. A large part of the friction is caused by the payments (where necessary) of duties and taxes – but there are ways to make this easier for all concerned.

It can be a good idea to show how much those customs fees will be on your website, particularly if your customers themselves will need to pay them. This avoids any unpleasant surprises and allows them to make a fully informed purchase decision. It’s also likely to reduce the number of customs delays and returns. Of course, you could pay those customs fees yourself, which might give a better experience for your customers.

Customs charges are also a factor in goods you import, and the way you choose to pay these can have an impact on your business. For instance, you may be able to set up a deferment account, which would allow for certain eligible customs charges to be deferred until the following month.

Rules can vary between different countries, but doing this could help to smooth the passage of your imported goods through customs with fewer delays. It could also help to consolidate – and therefore simplify – your customs payments, especially if you import goods frequently.

It’s also worth understanding the rules on Returned Goods Relief. This allows goods that have previously been exported to be returned to the same country without additional customs charges. There are specific rules attached to this – including the goods needing to be returned in the same condition as when exported, and the re-importer having to be the same as the original exporter – but ensuring it’s applied to your returns means you won’t end up paying out more than you need to. You can find out more about Returned Goods Relief by watching our webinar.

As well as payments made by you, you can also take steps to make sure the payments made into your business by your customers are as easy and convenient as possible for them Doing so could play a part in increasing conversions, as well as improving the overall experience and helping with customer retention.

The key, in cross-border e-commerce, is localising payments. There are several elements to this, but a simple one is to display prices in the customer’s own currency. Research from Shopify suggests that a huge 92% of e-commerce shoppers prefer to make purchases in their local currency.¹ This is due to a number of factors, including psychological barriers and the inconvenience of manually converting prices into their own currency, but the result is that not providing local currencies risks harming sales and revenue.²

It's a similar story when considering which payment options to offer. Over two-thirds (70%) of online consumers say that having their preferred payment method available is very or extremely influential when they are deciding which online store to buy from.³ And more than one-in 10 have abandoned their cart due to there not being enough payment options.⁴

It’s worth considering how shifting trends and generational preferences could have an impact here – for example, 80% of Gen Z consumers use digital wallets.⁵ Ensuring you cater to the needs and preferences of your customers is the key to maximising revenue.

Disclaimer: The information provided on this page does not constitute legal, tax, finance, accounting, or trade advice, but is designed to provide general information relating to business and commerce. The FedEx Small Business Hub content, information, and services are not a substitute for obtaining the advice of a competent professional, for example (but not limited to) a licensed attorney, law firm, accountant, or financial adviser.