Components of the Payments Lifecycle

Here is a look at the various components of the payments lifecycle across different ecommerce categories. The payments landscape is continously evolving and there are evermore components, regulations and optimisations affecting ecommerce merchants. To add to the complication an individual merchant may sell across multiple categories and business models. This list isn't necessarily exhaustive but should give a good insight across the different types of flows and considerations. For example, an online platform like Twitch supports various models that cross over categories such as digital goods (for purchasing bits), subscriptions (for subscribing to channels) and payouts to content creators (which also, for example, applies to the gambling category).

  1. Physical Goods
  2. Digital Goods
  3. Subscription
  4. Gambling
  5. Travel
  6. Trading

Physical Goods

Components of the Payment Lifecycle for Physical Goods. Image created in draw.io by Steve Nester

e.g. Books, Food, Clothes

Digital Goods

Components of the Payment Lifecycle for Digital Goods. Image created in draw.io by Steve Nester

e.g. Steam selling Digital Games

Subscription

Components of the Payment Lifecycle for Subscriptions. Image created in draw.io by Steve Nester

e.g. Netflix selling digital entertainment

Gambling

Components of the Payment Lifecycle for Gambling. Image created in draw.io by Steve Nester

e.g. Betfair selling online gambling

Travel

Components of the Payment Lifecycle for Travel. Image created in draw.io by Steve Nester

e.g. Airbnb, booking.com, airlines

Trading

Components of the Payment Lifecycle for Trading. Image created in draw.io by Steve Nester

e.g. stock, crypto