Boost Your E-Commerce With Stripe Payments In New Zealand

Source: Freepik

About 49% of New Zealand internet users buy online every week, according to Statista. As an e-commerce business, you must refine your users’ online shopping experience to the highest degree to capture your share of this ever-growing value.

For that, an excellent payment processor is key. That is why this article will examine Stripe, a service that is becoming more popular because of its powerful API.

What are Stripe’s core features, and are they for you? How does it stack up against other, more popular payment processors? Examine the possibilities this burgeoning processor opens up in this article.

Introduction to Stripe Payments in NZ

Stripe is a US-based company developed by Irish brothers John and Patrick Collison.

It was established relatively recently, in 2010, in Palo Alto, California — but its drive, business philosophy, and stellar implementation have allowed it to reach meteoric heights faster than most believed possible. In its latest funding, Stripe is now valued at 95 billion USD.

But what makes Stripe so great, and should your New Zealand business buy into it? To understand that, you need first to understand the problem that Stripe solved.

Despite the tidal wave of a rising global e-commerce industry, the online payments ecosystem was cumbersome and unnecessarily complicated.

You’d know if you ever tried to start a global business before the pandemic. Before Stripe, integrating payment processing into a website or app was a nightmare for developers. Typically, it involved extensive documentation and dealing with old systems.

On the customer’s end, this meant:

• They were redirected to an entirely different platform;
• They had to enter payment details;
• Their chosen payment method might not have been on the limited list of accepted options;
• Users paid multiple fees (processing, currency conversions, etc.);
• They had to use archaic security measures that left sensitive data exposed.

Sounds complicated? That’s because it was.

Stripe was the company that revolutionized this. Through their simple yet powerful API, integrating on-site payment sites became as easy as pasting the seven lines of code required on your backend. This meant that even small businesses online could accept payments anywhere in the world.

So, Stripe revolutionized global payments for e-commerce. Great! But what exactly does this mean for your business in New Zealand?

Benefits of Using Stripe for E-Commerce

Stripe launched in New Zealand in 2017, promising to bring their powers of simplification to New Zealand customers. Major companies such as Xero and Mobi2Go have already signed up from the start, with features like Stripe Connect, Billing, Radar, and Sigma available to them.

Key Advantages of Using Stripe

• Simple integration. Other payment processors require you to fiddle with integration codes and configuration. Meanwhile, Stripe offers no-code solutions that let you process online payments without doing anything else. Even complete, on-site integration takes no more than a few lines of simple code. Anyone can watch a YouTube video about it.
• Ease of use, even internationally. Customers just click a button to pay through bank accounts or credit card payments wherever they are in the world. Stripe handles every step, from accepting payments to currency conversion, and more.
• Transparent and affordable pricing. Stripe has an incredibly simple pricing policy, charging per transaction instead of a monthly fee or other cumbersome contracts. It’s free to set up and use. The company only charges 2.7% plus NZ$0.30 for domestic cards and 3.7% plus NZ$0.30 for international cards every time a customer pays. It also has custom pricing.
• Robust security features. Stripe is fully compliant with stringent PCI DSS measures and features cutting-edge fraud protection algorithms that shield Stripe customers from danger.
• Good growth support. With its highly accessible pricing, Stripe automatically scales with your business as you grow. Pricing will only change when you claim other features or customize Stripe for specific use cases. There are also powerful features for handling increased transaction volumes. Best of all, Stripe has strong customer support features.

Stripe raised the bar of what the e-commerce payment experience should be like. All small businesses, lean startups, and entrepreneurs in New Zealand benefit from this. With Stripe integrations, your brand can take root in NZ while spreading its branches around the world.

Source: Freepik

How to Use Stripe for E-commerce in NZ

The next section will discuss specific steps so you’ll find it easier to implement Stripe products on your website. We’ve done the research for you, so all you have to do is implement these tips.

Setting Up Stripe For Your NZ Online Store

Setup is perhaps the most complicated part of integrating Stripe for your business. But don’t worry – this part is straightforward. The process is specifically designed to be easy, so you don’t need to hire an expert.

Simply follow these steps:

1. Make a Stripe account. Go to Stripe’s website and register for an account. You’ll need details like your business bank account and email. Complete a few steps to activate your account, enable 2FA, and finish your account setup.
2. Get Stripe API keys. After registration, you should already be on the Stripe dashboard. From there, navigate to the Developers tab and find your publishable and secret keys.
3. If customizing your integration, install Stripe libraries. Stripe’s libraries contain all the resources for modifying Stripe in your e-commerce website, and you need to download the most appropriate version using the necessary coding language. However, you can skip this step for non-customized installation.
4. Install the Stripe plugin on your website. If you’re managing your own website, go to the plugin management settings and install the Stripe Checkout plugin. Activate it, and then enter your API keys.
5. Configure and test. Stripe checkout is great right out of the box, but there’s massive potential for customization. After you’re customized to your heart’s content, test how the integration is working through a sandbox or a simulated situation.
6. Finally, launch! Address all the issues that come up in the testing phase. However, if everything is going well, then simply switch to live mode. And voila, you’re done!

Setting up Stripe is simple – it’s intentionally one of its strengths after all. Still though, those steps above are just the basic outline. If you want more detailed instructions, we’ve also prepared more in-depth instructions for Stripe integration.

Accepting Payments With Stripe in NZ

You can start accepting payments with Stripe the moment you register the API keys and press live. How long this takes depends on what configurations you implement. It also depends on what payment services you want to enable for your website.

What payment options does Stripe cater to? There are many:

• Credit cards: Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, JCB, Diners Club, China UnionPay
• Debit cards: Visa, Mastercard, American Express
• Direct bank transfers: For example, SEPA Direct Debit, Sofort, etc.
• Bank redirects: Similar to direct bank transfers, it adds an extra layer of security. Caters to the same banks.
• Online wallets: Apple Pay, Google Pay, AliPay, and WeChat Pay.

Refunds are also available, though only for select payment methods. Customers can file a dispute or seek a refund through Stripe’s own channels.

For an online business owner in New Zealand, the ability to accept multiple payment methods is a requirement for success. Stripe caters to your every need, whether you are an online store, a marketplace, a subscription service, an international business, or you offer professional services.

Integrating Stripe With Popular E-Commerce Platforms

No matter how strong your features are or how wide your payment network is, they won’t matter one bit if your e-commerce platform can’t properly integrate with the processor.

Fortunately, integration compatibility is Stripe’s strongest suite. It works well with all the popular e-commerce and website-building platforms, such as:

• NEXT BASKET
• Shopify
• WooCommerce
• BigCommerce
• Magento
• Squarespace
• Wix
• PrestaShop
• Weebly
• OpenCart

Stripe has ensured its services are compatible with virtually all the popular ecommerce platforms around. Its integration is fast, user-friendly, and hassle-free.

Source: Freepik

Managing Customer Transactions With Stripe Payments in NZ

Aside from accepting all the popular payment methods, Stripe also lets you do specific customer transactions that fit your use case. Here are the available methods of processing payments:

• E-commerce purchases. Typical online transactions between buyers and sellers accept the modes above.
• Physical payments. Stripe offers POS systems for in-person (physical) stores. The Stripe Terminal allows you to accept multiple payment methods in real time.
• Subscriptions. This software allows you to charge scheduled monthly fees for a specific method, useful for subscriptions, SaaS memberships, and exclusive content.
• Billing and invoice issuance. Stripe allows customers to issue invoices for services rendered or issue recurring billing. Useful for B2B transactions.
• BNPL (buy now, pay later). Stripe lets you set up BNPL services by seamlessly linking you to third-party BNPL providers in New Zealand.
• Cash-based vouchers. Stripe can give a scannable voucher that customers can bring to an authorized location. 
• International transactions. Stripe lets you accept payment from customers around the world without needing to have a physical entity in their country, even if the customer doesn’t have their own Stripe account.

Stripe is a versatile choice for any business type, whether SMEs or aspiring startups. Unlike other third-party payment processors, you don’t have to do anything to enable these functionalities. You can simply manage everything from your Stripe dashboards with a few clicks.

Best of all, each of these transaction modes ensures high degrees of security.

Ensuring Security and Fraud Prevention With Stripe

Ever since the pandemic, online shopping has been growing in New Zealand, and it’s not about to stop any time soon. According to an industry report by IBIS World, online shopping is projected to grow at an annual rate of 4% over five years (2024 – 2029) and is worth about 6.6 billion USD.

Unfortunately, that much money also attracts a lot of vultures waiting to swoop down on unsecured businesses: fraud is up 11% in 2024, compared to 8% in 2018, according to NetSafe. With new technologies making fraud easier, security is more critical than ever.

Fortunately, Stripe takes customer safety and fraud prevention very seriously. It also has a unique approach, giving Stripe customers the power to tailor security according to their needs.

One stand-out feature of the company is Stripe Radar, which uses advanced machine-learning capabilities to allow you to create custom fraud-detection rules tailored to your specific business needs.

Stripe also has a proactive security stance. It has a dedicated team of security experts who are available on-call 24/7, and they maintain high security protocols for every Stripe employee. 

The service is also fully compliant with international PCI DSS standards, with a PCI Level 1 certification (the highest possible in the industry). Other notable security measures are 3D Secure 1 and 2, advanced tokenization, and 24/7 transaction monitoring.

Source: Freepik

Optimizing Conversion Rates With Stripe

Aside from seamless integration, multi-channel payments and transactions, and high-end security features, Stripe also boasts cutting-edge conversion optimization features.

Stripe Checkout, the standard, pre-built, out-of-the-box payment page for e-commerce businesses, is already optimized for conversion. Since it seamlessly integrates with your website or platform, customers can buy with just a few clicks, and its comprehensive payment coverage minimizes cart abandonment.

In addition, there are also Stripe Elements. Elements contain a suite of customizable UI components that let you build your own payment forms. With this, you can create highly secure, on-brand, and utterly smooth user experiences with Stripe.

Analyzing Sales and Revenue With Stripe Analytics

Stripe offers robust analytics features.

Once you’ve made an account, you get access to the Stripe dashboard. There, you’ll find a comprehensive set of business data is collected and displayed.

Here are some of Stripe Analytics’ best features:

• Revenue insights
• Dispute management
• Subscription metrics
• Cohort analysis
• Payment method performance
• Payout and balance tracking
• International insights

Analytics insights are critical for planning your business’ next moves. Data-driven insights let you avoid pitfalls that waste resources and time. This helps you optimize your operations and enhance customer satisfaction.

Scaling Your E-Commerce Business With Stripe in NZ

Stripe offers comprehensive features that help New Zealand e-commerce businesses scale effectively, both locally and globally.

Stripe handles high transaction volumes efficiently, allowing you to grow without worrying about payment processing limits. They also update a lot. With Stripe’s continuous improvements, you can keep your payment systems up-to-date.

More importantly, Stripe doesn’t have excessively expensive solutions. As the demands of your business grow, Stripe grows with you.

It also has state-of-the-art integration capabilities, allowing you to customize it to practically anything you want or need.

Source: Freepik

Final Thoughts

Stripe empowers your business idea, whether domestic or global. Its impactful features are wrapped in layers of innovation that make its use easy for both customers and business owners alike.

Whether you’re invoicing clients, setting up recurring payments for your exclusive content, or launching your own in-person store, Stripe is your swiss-army knife for all things payment-related.

With this versatile and reliable service, there’s nothing standing in the way of your e-commerce dreams.