Choosing the best type of checkout page integration for your business
The checkout page is a vital step in the customer journey and can greatly impact your conversion rates and payment success. This, in turn, determines your revenue, making the checkout page a key online sales tool.
In this article, we’ll take a look at the different types of checkout page integrations, highlighting the main advantages and limitations of each, to help you find the best integration solution for your e-commerce business:
- Integration using a hosted payment page
- API integration
- Integration via CMS plugin
- Integration via SDK
What does a typical e-commerce checkout process look like?
Let’s break down a typical e-commerce checkout process.
When completing a purchase in the online store, the customer fills out the payment form and clicks the “Pay” button to initiate the transaction. User data, such as the customer’s card number, expiry date, CVV codes, and the payment amount, are sent to the payment system and verified to complete the transaction.
The e-commerce website and the payment system are linked by a payment gateway - a virtual channel used to route card payments and a wide variety of alternative payment systems. Any business selling its products and services online needs a payment gateway. The gateway is located on the payment service provider’s (PSP’s) server. The checkout page may also be located on the PSP’s server or hosted by the business itself.
The integration method determines where the user data is stored and how it is transferred, as well as influencing the appearance of the checkout page. Each integration method has advantages and limitations.
So, why is finding the right integration method important? Our recent report with IMRG found that on average, customers abandon an e-commerce checkout at 90% of the typical length of time that customers spend in the checkout. This shows that even when a customer is close to the point of purchase, a concern with the checkout page can still deter them from finalising the payment. Choosing the right e-commerce checkout integration can help reduce this risk.
Integration using a hosted payment page
With integration using a hosted payment page, the checkout page can be displayed as an iFrame, open in a pop-up window, also known as a microframe, or as a separate browser tab, known as a redirect. In any case, all customer data is collected, processed, and stored on the PSP’s side.
Advantages
- There’s no need for a PCI DSS certificate as all user card data is immediately sent to the PSP’s server
- The PSP can add any new payment methods as requested
- The responsibility of the checkout process is entirely with the PSP
- Little support is needed from your IT developers
- You can fully customise the checkout page by using our payment page designer, without the need for technical team support
PSP checkout page integration may be a good choice if
- Your company does not have a PCI DSS certificate
- You don’t have a development team or its resources are limited
- You’re testing a new page layout or changing your existing one
Checkout page integration using API
This integration method gives you complete control over your online payment page design and provides enhanced client analytics.
When integrating using API (Application Programming Interface), your website’s checkout page communicates directly with the gateway. Payment card data is collected and stored on the merchant's server and transferred to the PSP’s server.
Several different apps and systems are involved in the payment process. The API allows them to talk to each other and establish a connection using a specially developed code.
Advantages
- Complete control over the layout of your checkout page, matching the overall style of your online store
- More flexible and adaptive design for different devices
- Better analytics with the ability to gather more user data
Limitations
- Requires a PCI DSS certificate
- Requires a team of developers for maintenance
- Adding new payment methods may involve changes in the system code
- Partial responsibility for stable transactions lies with your team
- Maintaining the checkout page will be more expensive than other integration options
API integration may be a good choice if:
- Your company has a PCI DSS certificate
- You have your own team of developers
- You can devote the time and resources needed to update different payment scenarios and checkout page layout
- You have a wide variety of customer journeys and interactions
Integration using CMS e-commerce plugins
Many websites are built using off-the-shelf CMS platforms such as Magento, BigCommerce, commercetools, PrestaShop, and WordPress, allowing their users to create and manage web pages without any specialised web coding skills.
PSPs have developed checkout page plugins for the most popular CMS platforms. They can be easily integrated into the corresponding platform without any additional tweaking and with limited coding skills. You will also get real-time updates on orders and purchases.
Integration using SDK libraries
If your online store was coded from scratch, it was likely written in one of the most popular web programming languages: Java, JavaScript, Go, PHP, or Python. Ecommpay's SDKs (Software Development Kits) are used to generate and verify digital signatures in server-to-server communications. They have the following technical capabilities:
- Signing API requests to Ecommpay
- Verifying signatures in callbacks and responses
- Ensuring secure and tamper-proof data exchange
Your PSP will provide an SDK for your programming language, which can then be used to integrate a ready-made checkout page into your website; you do not have to write the code yourself.
Ecommpay also has a mobile SDK to be used in mobile apps.
With Ecommpay's mobile SDKs, you can integrate secure, user-friendly payments directly into your mobile app — no need to send users away from your native environment.
Whether you're building a native iOS or Android app, or using Flutter or React Native, our SDKs are designed to make your integration effortless while keeping your checkout fully compliant and conversion-optimised.
Ecommpay mSDKs capabilities:
- Accept one-time or recurring payments with full control over the flow
- Handle 3D Secure (3DS) authentication natively - no disruption, just security
- Use ready-made UI components or build your own checkout flow with full customisation
- Seamlessly connect to Ecommpay's payment gateway
- Ensure PCI DSS compliance through tokenization and secure data handling
Supported Platforms:
- Android 5.0+
- iOS 11.0+ (Core), iOS 15.6+ (UI & Core)
- Flutter 3.3.0+
- React Native 0.75.3+
Looking for more information about checkout page integration and creating a smooth payment experience? Let’s chat! Our payment experts are on hand to help you find the best solution for your business.