Question Checkout woes

[Tomdhu]

I wanted to try out a different payment system on my ecommerce site as the current PayPal set up is confusing for customers. This is because it continually mentions PayPal eg the first checkout button says "Proceed to Paypal" which is misleading for non-PP customers. It further channels customers towards creating/using a PayPal account rather than use a bank card. It is possible eventually to use a bank card but they deliberately make it circuitous.

So, I created a duplicate of our web site in a subdomain called sandbox where I could experiment. In the Woocommerce settings I turned off PP and I also disabled the PP plugin in the plugins section.
I then tested with a dummy purchase and was horrified to find that the checkout worked and it had switched over to the original domain and it's PP payment system.
My questions are:-
1. How could this happen when PP was disabled on the subdomain and subdomains are believed to be totally separate?
2. How do I remove all trace of PP from the subdomain without affecting the main domain.
3. Which payment alternative to PP would you recommend. This should give a simple and clear choice, at the very first checkout stage between card payment and PayPal.
4. Is Stripe well regarded?

 

[Community]

I've ditched paypal in many of our stores now in replacement for Stripe which is fantastic. It does however depend on whether your audience is likely to feel more secure entering their card details, or using paypal. Different shops have different userbases which prefer a certain checkout.

The happy medium is obviously using Paypal and Stripe so those with paypal accounts can use it, but also providing a seemless card processing for those who'd rather pay directly with card payments.

Woocommerce integrates with both of these platforms very well.

 

[Mr Lucky]

I'm using Paypal and Stripe, I would like to ditch PayPal but am not confident enough yet.

Buyers can prefer payapl for a couple of reasons:

• They have a PayPal balance they want to use
• They want to be protected by the PayPal which seems to be aggressively biased towards the buyer, although if you are a seller with a decent rep with them they seem to be a bit less biased.

I'm a bit confused by the original question, I use the standard WooCommerce Paypal, no need for a Paypal plugin.
If your sandbox site redirected to the live site, then possibly it had URLs that were directing there. Obvious question, but when creating the sandbox site did you (a) change the site URL in functions.php and (b) change all content URLs where necessary (I use the plugin Better Search replace for this, but there is also Velvet Blue Update URLs

 

[Tomdhu]

I'm using Paypal and Stripe, I would like to ditch PayPal but am not confident enough yet.

Buyers can prefer payapl for a couple of reasons:

• They have a PayPal balance they want to use
• They want to be protected by the PayPal which seems to be aggressively biased towards the buyer, although if you are a seller with a decent rep with them they seem to be a bit less biased.

I'm a bit confused by the original question, I use the standard WooCommerce Paypal, no need for a Paypal plugin.
If your sandbox site redirected to the live site, then possibly it had URLs that were directing there. Obvious question, but when creating the sandbox site did you (a) change the site URL in functions.php and (b) change all content URLs where necessary (I use the plugin Better Search replace for this, but there is also Velvet Blue Update URLs

 

[Tomdhu]

Hi,
Great reply. You certainly have given me a lot to think about as I did not know about Better Search etc so I will check it out.

Subsequent to the original post I was able to install a snippit of code that changed the Proceed to PayPal to read Proceed to checkout. This make it less disconcerting to users who want to use a card.

Inherited admin on the site from the original developer and it has the PayPal Gateway for Woocommerce. However it has two entries for PayPal under the Payments tab. Please see the attached image.

The final stage is as per the second attached image. I find this screen misleading because it picks up the user's email address and places it in the top PP section. On a small screen (50% of my buyers do so on their mobiles) the bank card section is below the fold. I would much prefer a simple choice between PP and card earlier on by the selection of a radio button.

 

[Mr Lucky]

I was able to install a snippit of code that changed the Proceed to PayPal to read Proceed to checkout.

That seems odd then, I'm sure the default should be proceed to checkout.

Inherited admin on the site from the original developer and it has the PayPal Gateway for Woocommerce.

Seems like a lot of customisation then.

I know there may be some extensions I've seen for PayPal, but you don't need them. With no PayPal extensions you will still have PayPal Standard in the default Woocommerce settings. I just use that and is all fine and quite simple. Just your Paypal email, API for refunds and the Woocommerce IPN at the PayPal site.

 

[Tomdhu]

That seems odd then, I'm sure the default should be proceed to checkout.
Well, it sure wasn't originally hence the adjustment.


Seems like a lot of customisation then.
Sure, I've made a lot of adjustments over the last 18 months - always learning as I go along. I'm retired (in my 70's) so have lots of time to work on it. I have no formal WP training whatsoever but it's been fun making the developments.
I glean a lot from online searches and forae but the problem is retention of detail.


I know there may be some extensions I've seen for PayPal, but you don't need them. With no PayPal extensions you will still have PayPal Standard in the default Woocommerce settings. I just use that and is all fine and quite simple. Just your PayPal email, API for refunds and the Woocommerce IPN at the PayPal site.

OK, but on yours, is the buyer given a simple choice early on between PP or bank card?
Out of interest, what is your url? Mine is trapbarn.com

 

[Mr Lucky]

Aha got it - you replied within the quote!

OK, but on yours, is the buyer given a simple choice early on between PP or bank card?
Out of interest, what is your url? Mine is trapbarn.com

No, there is no choice until the checkout. The URL is tamingthesaxphone.com (feel free to test it and buy something )

Cart just shows subtotals and total, then it is proceed to checkout where you will see PayPal or Stripe.

 

[Mr Lucky]

Just seen the Proceed to Paypal button you mentioned. That is only there at the checkout after the customer has chosen PayPal. But the default is Stripe, so I hope that helps encourage people to use it.

 

[Tomdhu]

Hi Pete,
((Aha got it - you replied within the quote!)) - Sorry I havnt quite got my head around the steps!

Just visited your site. AMAZING degree of sophistication and complexity whilst still being intuitive and functional. I couldn't start to comprehend the underlying design features.
I like the choice between PP and bank card early on but there is quite a distance between the radio buttons.
Going back to your Woocommerce settings , which of the two in the attached image do you have?
Jim

 

[Mr Lucky]

Thank you!

Thing is I don't have that Paypal checkout setting. That must be from a plugin you don't need/want.

I have a load of extra stuff from the Stripe plugin, but just chose the bog standard so this is basically what I have.

 

[Mr Lucky]

I would presume that PayPal Checkout plugin is doing a sort of direct to PayPal thing that avoids the checkout card.

I would just disable that and keep then you just have the standard payapl that is part of Woocommerce core.

So then you could either get stripe (plugin) and still use Paypal as well, but the customer has to "proceed to checkout" and then choose or, if you think it won't lose you sales, you could just use stripe

 

[Mr Lucky]

I like the choice between PP and bank card early on but there is quite a distance between the radio buttons.

Yes, well that is my choice by adding quite a bit of description about the payment method. You would;dn't have to have all that

 

[markjacobs]

I often use Paypal and Stripe. I think it is quite good for work.