The Alternate payment method is set up by default on any Freestart website/Buegle Store package. Unlike the other payment methods we offer, the Alternate method does not give your clients the opportunity to make a payment online but allows you to arrange payment manually outside the realm of your website.

Using the Alternate method

When you click on the Alternate subheading, you will be presented with the following options:

To activate the Alternate method on your website payment screen, you will need to tick the box labelled Gateway Active (1) .

If you offer more than one method of payment, you can change the ordering of them on the payment screen the client see's after completing the checkout by selecting the number from the Ordering of Gateways list (2). The smaller the number selected, the higher your payment method will appear in the list.

By enabling the Alternate method, your customers are presented with the message on the payment screen reading:

"A member of our staff will contact you via telephone to arrange payment. Please feel free to continue to browse our site."

If you would prefer to add your own text instead of this, you can do so by entering your text in the box labelled Alternate Text (3) instead.

Once you are happy with the settings, you will then need to click on the Save Settings button (4) to complete the Alternate method setup.

Practical Uses

The Alternate method is literally a way for you to inform customers of what the next steps in the payment process involve, whether you need to advise your customers to call you with their payment details or that they will be sent further information via post or email concerning setting up a direct debit payment through their bank.

Using the Alternate method is completely optional and whether you decide to use it or not may depend on the nature of how your business works.

If you wish to offer online payment methods to your customers, we do cater for a variety of popular ecommerce providers. Please click here to view the list of supported payment providers along with instructions on how to set them up through your own Freestart control panel.

If you need any further assistance with setting methods of payment up through your control panel, please feel free to place a support ticket by clicking here, emailing support@freestart.com, or calling our support line on 0844 774 2974 and one of our dedicated advisors will be more than happy to help.