You might be losing revenue and customer trust without realizing it, simply because your Shopify store doesn’t have the right payment gateway.
You’ve invested in a sleek storefront, crafted engaging product pages, and built a seamless browsing experience. Customers explore, add products to cart… but at checkout, they abandon.
Why?
Often, the missing link is your payment gateway. At checkout, customers demand trust, speed, and simplicity. If the payment experience feels insecure, clunky, or limited in options, they’ll leave without completing the purchase.
The key here is to pick the right payment gateway. It drives conversions, trust, and brand loyalty.
This guide will show you how to evaluate and select the right Shopify payment gateway for your store in India, whether you’re scaling D2C or B2B.
Why payment gateways matter for Shopify merchants in India
Payment gateways act as a bridge between customers, your online store, and the banks involved in the transaction. With a secure connection, a Shopify payment gateway manages transactions and customer data for a smooth checkout experience. This helps you improve conversion and win customer trust.
Here’s why the right Shopify payment gateway is essential for your online store in India:
Timely settlements
With a transparent and efficient payout process, Shopify payment gateways ensure that you receive your earnings quickly. Fast payment settlement helps you manage business operations smoothly.
Local payment methods
When customers make a purchase, they look for a familiar payment method that they trust and feel comfortable using. With a Shopify payment gateway, you can support a range of payment methods such as UPI, BNPL, credit cards, wallets, net banking, and more.
Downtime support
If a gateway falters when traffic spikes, you lose customer trust and orders. During peak sales, such as festivals or flash sales, a payment gateway with high uptime and responsive downtime support helps prevent revenue losses.
Security
A payment gateway implements security measures to ensure secure transactions and protect customer data.
- Prevents data theft with encryption layers like TLS (Transport Layer Security) and SSL (Secure Socket Layer).
- PCI DSS compliance prevents fraud and data breaches at the payment terminal.
- AI analysis, 3D secure authentication, and chargeback protection prevent fraud.
Improved checkout experience
Shopify payment gateways make payments fast, simple, and secure. They cut extra steps at checkout. Less friction means reduced abandoned carts and more completed orders.
Read more: The X Factor you need to combat online shopping cart abandonment
Key factors to look for in a shopify payment gateway (India)
Your Shopify payment gateway shapes the customer experience. Friction, delays, or downtime at checkout lead to cart abandonment.
That’s why you need a payment gateway that aligns with your business needs and customer expectations.
Let’s break down the key factors you should consider when choosing a payment gateway:
A. Shopify compatibility & API integration
Not every payment gateway works seamlessly with Shopify in India. Pick one that’s simple to integrate. A smooth integration means simple operations and fewer technical issues.
Look for:
- SDKs (Software Development Kits) and APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) for features like auto-refunds and custom flows.
- Ready-to-use plugins for quick integration.
- Documents and tutorials for easy setup.
- Test with the latest Shopify updates for smooth performance.
Red flag: Outdated apps/plugins in the Shopify App Store.
B. Settlement timelines & reliability
A 24–48 hour timeframe vs. 3–5 days has a significant cash flow difference. Fast settlement helps meet working capital needs and avoid cash flow challenges.
- Check if there’s an option to reduce settlement time as an extra feature.
- Look for transparency in settlement costs, transaction fees, and any extra payment gateway charges that affect your profits.
Plus, a payment gateway stuck during sales or peak hours → failed campaign launch and decreased sales.
To avoid this, prioritise:
- Support for peak-load failover and auto-retry mechanisms.
- Sandbox testing for campaign readiness.
- Uptime SLAs of ideally 99.9%+ and real-time monitoring.
C. Security & compliance standards
A secure gateway builds customer trust and protects your business. Choose one that meets compliance requirements.
Look for:
- Compliance with PCI-DSS standards.
- Fraud detection filters like 3D secure authentication, velocity checks, risk-based authentication, and AI-based fraud detection.
- Geolocation tracking to trigger alerts for transactions from high-risk areas.
- SSL encryption and tokenization to prevent data leaks.
- Real-time transaction monitoring to flag hotlisted cards and prevent chargeback fraud.
Read more: How to Conduct a Payment Gateway Security Audit?
D. User experience & mobile-first checkout
A smooth payment process means low drop-offs. Look for:
- One-click UPI, wallet, and saved card options.
- Multi-language and accessibility support for Indian audiences.
- Branded checkout page options to maintain trust.
- Mobile optimisation for seamless experience across devices.
E. Payment analytics dashboard
Look for a payment gateway that provides analytics to optimise your payment process.
Look for:
- Refund management
- Chargeback alerts
- Real-time payment success rate
- Detailed reconciliation reports
- Insights into payment method usage
- Average transaction value
Build a comparison matrix for Shopify payment gateways in India
Compare payments according to the comparison matrix. You can assign weights depending on what is more important for your business.
| Criteria | Weight | Why it matters |
| Integration Time | 20% | Fast go-live. Less time in revenue generation. |
| Settlement Timelines | 20% | Healthy cash flow, especially needed to manage inventory and operations. Quick reinvestment in growth opportunities |
| Local Payment Support (UPI, EMI, wallets) | 20% | Important for Indian buyers to maximise conversion and loyalty. |
| Uptime SLAs | 15% | Prevents revenue loss during festivals, flash sales, and peak hours. Helps boost brand trust and reputation. |
| Dashboard & Reporting | 15% | Helps with Payment reconciliation Finance planning Detecting unusual activities Analysing trends Optimising gaps Issue refunds |
| Cost per Transaction | 10% | Affects margin, especially on high volumes or low margin products. Necessary to check to scale sustainably as transaction volume increases. |
Common mistakes to avoid when choosing a Shopify gateway
You miss out on small details when choosing a payment gateway, and it will disrupt your cash flow, payment security, and customer experience.
Here are some common pitfalls to avoid when choosing the right Shopify payment gateway:
Picking low-cost MDR without UX or refund features
Picking low-cost MDR without considering user experience, refund features, or support leads to poor UX, inefficient fraud detection, or frequent downtime.
Plus, there may be hidden and unexpected costs that will later affect your profitability.
Solution: Perform a cost-benefit analysis. Consider transaction volume, business size, and required features, and compare different options. Prioritise a payment gateway with high success rates.
Ignoring UPI/EMI (critical for Indian buyers)
Indian customers expect flexibility. If you just offer cards and wallets and ignore UPI and EMI options, you risk increased abandoned carts.
Solution: Choose a payment gateway that caters to a wide set of audiences.
Read More: Integrating UPI and Wallets as Payment Gateways in Shopify for Indian Shoppers
Not validating Shopify app/plugin reviews
Selecting a payment gateway without checking reviews may lead to technical inconsistencies, unsupported tools, and disruption in transactions.
Solution: Check reviews, talk to current users, and look for sandbox access.
Overlooking mobile-first design
India has a mobile-first market. Unresponsive layouts, confusing navigation, or slow loading on small devices lead to increased drop-offs and reduced customer trust.
Solution: Test functionality and responsiveness across devices and see if there’s any friction.
No stress-testing before campaigns
You don’t want unexpected issues when traffic spikes. Without testing for peak loads, you risk major failures during big campaigns.
Solution: Test for failed payments, device-level issues, and refunds before you go live.
Not reviewing SLA terms for downtime
An SLA outlines uptime and consequences or remedies in case of downtime. Not reviewing SLA terms leads to an inconsistent customer experience. What happens if the gateway is down during your peak hour?
Solution: Read and compare SLA terms before committing. Consult a lawyer to identify pitfalls and gaps in the agreement.
- Complicated pricing
- Inefficient customer support
- Low transaction success rate
- Limited payment methods
- Slow settlement times
- Security and compliance issues
- Weak chargeback prevention and fraud detection
Read More: Top 5 Myths About Shopify Payments—Busted
Think beyond just integration — build long-term checkout success
The right payment gateway for your Shopify store in India boosts conversions, builds customer trust, and keeps operations smooth. It ensures smooth settlements, high uptime during peak sales, and responsive support.
By carefully weighing your options, you create a checkout experience that reduces friction, boosts loyalty, and supports sustainable growth for both D2C and B2B operations.
With Pine Labs Gateway, you get timely settlements, consistent transaction success, and secure, seamless checkouts that build conversions and customer trust. Talk to our experts today to transform your Shopify payments into a growth advantage.
Talk to our experts to see how we can streamline payments and create a seamless checkout experience for your Shopify store!