How to Customize Payment Methods for Different Markets

When expanding internationally or serving different customer segments, offering the right payment methods in the right way can significantly impact conversion rates. With Sway Functions Generator, you can customize the payment experience to better serve various markets and customer types without writing complex code.

Why Customize Payment Methods?

Different markets and customer segments have distinct payment preferences:

• 70% of German shoppers prefer direct bank transfers and invoicing
• 40% of Dutch customers favor iDEAL
• Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) services are preferred by 56% of millennials
• B2B customers often require purchase order and invoice payment options

Customizing which payment methods appear, how they're ordered, and how they're named can dramatically improve checkout conversion.

Payment Function Types in Sway Functions Generator

The app offers three primary payment customization functions:

1. Conditionally Remove Gateways - Show/hide payment methods based on specific conditions
2. Change Gateway Names - Rename payment options for clarity or localization
3. Reorder Payment Gateways - Change the order of payment methods to prioritize preferred options

Implementation Examples for Different Store Types

For Global Fashion Retailers (500+ products)

Challenge: Need to offer localized payment methods that prioritize popular options in each market.

Function: Reorder Payment Gateways
Configuration:
- For customers in Germany: Move "SOFORT" and "Klarna" to top positions
- For customers in Netherlands: Move "iDEAL" to top position
- For customers in Japan: Move "Konbini" and "PayPay" to top positions
- For US/Canada: Keep credit cards and Shop Pay at top

Business Impact: 15-20% higher checkout conversion when preferred local payment methods are prominently featured. Reduces shopping cart abandonment in international markets.

For B2B Home Goods Suppliers (1000+ products)

Challenge: Need to offer invoice payment options to approved wholesale accounts while hiding these from retail customers.

Function: Conditionally Remove Gateways
Configuration:
- If customer has tag "Wholesale" AND order value > $500
- Show "Invoice Payment" and "Purchase Order" options
- If customer does NOT have tag "Wholesale"
- Hide "Invoice Payment" and "Purchase Order" options

Business Impact: Streamlines B2B purchasing while preventing retail customers from selecting payment methods that require manual approval.

For Health & Wellness Subscription Brands (100-200 products)

Challenge: Need to prioritize recurring-friendly payment methods for subscription products.

Function: Conditionally Remove Gateways & Reorder Gateways
Configuration:
- If cart contains products with tag "Subscription"
- Hide payment methods without strong recurring capabilities
- Prioritize Shop Pay, PayPal, and major credit cards
- Show message: "For reliable subscription processing, please select from these payment methods"

Business Impact: Reduces subscription payment failures by 25-30% by steering customers toward payment methods with higher recurring success rates.

For Luxury Jewelry Retailers (50-100 products)

Challenge: Need to restrict high-value purchases to secure payment methods and rename options to reflect premium service.

Function: Conditionally Remove Gateways & Change Gateway Names
Configuration:
- If order value > $5,000
- Hide BNPL options and prepaid payment methods
- Rename "Credit Card" to "Secured Card Payment"
- Rename "Bank Transfer" to "Verified Bank Transfer (24-hour processing)"

Business Impact: Reduces payment fraud concerns while maintaining a premium shopping experience for high-value purchases.

For Multi-brand Food & Beverage Marketplaces

Challenge: Need to customize payment description text based on merchant-specific policies.

Function: Change Gateway Names
Configuration:
- If cart contains products from vendor "Specialty Wines"
- Rename "Credit Card" to "Credit Card (ID verification required at delivery)"
- If cart contains products with tag "Perishable"
- Rename expedited payment methods to include "Recommended for perishable items"

Business Impact: Sets appropriate expectations at checkout, reducing customer confusion and support tickets regarding product-specific payment and delivery policies.

Step-by-Step Implementation Guide

To implement payment customization functions:

1. From your Shopify admin, open the Sway Functions Generator app
2. Navigate to "Create Function" → "Payment"
3. Select the function type (Remove Gateways, Change Names, or Reorder)
4. Configure your conditions:
   • Cart Qualifiers - Rules based on cart contents, value, etc.
   • Customer Qualifiers - Rules based on customer tags, geography, history, etc.
   • Item Selectors - Product-specific rules based on collections, tags, variants, etc.
5. Set your action (which payment methods to hide/rename/reorder)
6. Test thoroughly before activating

Advanced Configuration Strategies

Combined Payment Customizations

For comprehensive payment optimization, combine multiple payment functions:

Strategy: Regional Payment Optimization
Configuration:
- Function 1: Reorder payment gateways based on regional preferences
- Function 2: Rename payment options to use local terminology
- Function 3: Conditionally remove payment methods with high decline rates in specific regions

High-Value Order Protection

Create special payment rules for high-value orders:

Function: Conditionally Remove Gateways
Configuration:
- IF order value > $1,000 AND customer account created less than 30 days ago
- THEN hide all payment methods except "Credit Card with 3D Secure"
- Show message: "For your security, we require verified payment for high-value orders"

Seasonal Payment Promotions

Implement time-sensitive payment promotions:

Function: Change Gateway Names
Configuration:
- During promotional period (e.g., Nov 15-Dec 25)
- Rename "Shop Pay" to "Shop Pay - 0% Interest for 6 months on orders over $300"
- Only for customers with tag "Eligible for Financing"

Best Practices for Payment Customization

1. Always explain why a payment method is unavailable (if removed conditionally)
2. Use clear naming conventions that explain any special conditions
3. Test internationally to ensure localized payment methods work as expected
4. Monitor payment selection metrics to refine your customization strategy
5. Consider mobile experience - ensure renamed options display properly on small screens

Real-World Success: Cross-Border Beauty Brand

A Shopify Plus beauty retailer operating in 8 countries implemented payment customization functions to optimize checkout in each market:

• Created region-specific payment method ordering
• Dynamically renamed payment options to reflect actual processing times by region
• Implemented conditional logic to remove high-decline-rate methods in certain markets

Results:

• 23% increase in checkout completion rate
• 9% reduction in payment failures
• 17% decrease in customer support inquiries about payment methods

Measuring Success

To evaluate the effectiveness of your payment function implementations, track these key metrics:

• Checkout conversion rate by market/region
• Distribution of payment method usage
• Payment failure/decline rates by method
• Average order value by payment method
• Customer feedback regarding payment options

Next Steps

Ready to optimize your payment experience? Start by analyzing your payment data to identify:

1. Which payment methods have the highest completion rates in each market
2. Where customers are abandoning checkout during payment selection
3. Payment-related customer service inquiries

Then implement targeted payment functions to address these specific areas. For complex international payment strategies, book a consultation with our team for personalized guidance.