Pay by Invoice
The payment behaviour of customers on the Internet differs significantly from that in stores. Whereas convenience is the main factor in deciding whether to pay in cash or by debit card when paying in stores, the decisive aspect when ordering online is that the payment method is secure. Particularly in the case of small, unknown stores and first-time orders, the personal effort involved in payment plays only a subordinate role. The most popular method of online shopping in Germany is payment by invoice.
Payment due only after receipt of the goods
When paying by invoice, the ordered goods are first shipped to the customer without any payment having been made in advance. The customer now has the opportunity to check the order for completeness and integrity, and then pay the invoice. If part of the goods are returned to the retailer, there is usually the option of paying only that part of the invoice amount that corresponds to the value of what remains with the customer.
Competitiveness through different payment methods
Since the decision to order from a particular store or not often depends on whether it offers the customer’s preferred payment method, it makes sense for reasons of competitiveness to offer as many payment methods as possible, including payment by invoice. The customer is thus free to decide how he wants to pay and choose the method he considers the most secure. Even if paying by invoice is less convenient for the retailer than other payment options, it makes sense for customer acquisition and retention in order to avoid cancelling the order process. Merchants can protect themselves against the increased expense of having to manually check incoming payments and send reminders if necessary, and the risk of having more payment defaults, by using the services of a payment service provider. On the one hand, this offers fraud prevention options, on the other hand, it reduces the administrative workload for purchases by invoice and also supports merchants in handling collection matters.
