If you’re running an e-commerce store in Singapore, margin is everything. You curate the right products, build your website, and start getting online sales.
But then comes the inevitable payment gateway fees. Those little percentages can really eat into your hard-earned profits!
My wife’s ecommerce store was experiencing the same problem. That’s why, a while back, I decided to take matters into my own hands and built a WordPress plugin that lets you accept PayNow QR code payments directly on your WooCommerce store. No middleman, no commissions – just plain direct bank transfers.
How Much Has It Saved So Far?
Now for the results. I’ve been running this plugin on her e-commerce store for the past six months, and the numbers have been pretty darn impressive.
As of today: nearly 40% of her customers are now choosing to pay via PayNow using the plugin (image below). That means, they are choosing PayNow over Visa, Master, GrabPay, as well as BNPL offerings like Atome.
What does 40% PayNow ratio mean for your business? Imagine your online store pulls in a respectable SGD50,000 in revenue each month. If 40% of that is now processed through no-commission PayNow thanks to this plugin, that’s a cool SGD20,000 landing directly in your bank account – without any payment gateway fees whatsoever.
Typical payment gateway commissions can range from 0.9% (for HitPay) to 1.5% (for Stripe). On that SGD20,000, you could be saving anywhere from SGD180 to SGD300 every single month. Or, SGD3600 per year. That’s money that goes straight back into your business, whether you want to reinvest it, use it for marketing, or just enjoy the extra profit.
Stores Already Benefiting
Many local stores have already discovered my plugin and installed it (btw, i didn’t run ads for it; only SEO). Here are a couple of notable ones that are already using it:
Oosterbay: If you’re a fan of top-notch, sashimi-grade seafood flown straight from Japan, you’ve probably heard of Oosterbay. They’re using the plugin to offer their customers a seamless PayNow payment option.
Emer Singapore: Emer is a supplier of premium period underwear. They are based in Vietnam, but when launching their SG store, they used my plugin to provide a convenient and commission-free payment method for local customers.
Seeing these businesses adopt the plugin and benefit from it really puts a smile on my face, considering that I an ex-developer who never coded in PHP (but I founded a tech startup).
Ready to Ditch the Fees?
Having a payment gateway like Stripe or HitPay still makes sense if you want to accept as many payment methods as possible. But if you’re running a WooCommerce store selling to customers in Singapore, and you want reduce payment gateway commissions, then I genuinely believe this plugin can make a real difference for you. It’s quick to set up (we’re talking under 5 minutes!), and it seamlessly integrates into your existing checkout process.
You can learn more about the plugin and grab your own copy here.
Or, if you want to accept payments on your phone, you can install my free Android PayNow QR app here.
It’s been a rewarding journey seeing this little side project evolve and start helping other business owners in Singapore. As always, I’m keen to hear your feedback and continue making the plugin even better.
Happy selling!
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