MAKING RETREATS REGISTRATION AND PAYMENT EASIER

In our automated and speedy modern world people want to be able to make online payments via systems that are fast, secure, and user-friendly. When they are ready to commit to your retreat, they want to be able to do so online, quickly and efficiently.

This can pose a significant challenge for those retreat leaders who don’t have the budget to build custom online systems and often rely heavily on payment methods like checks, bank transfers, Venmo and Zelle, between others.

Even online payment gateways like PayPal, Stripe, SecurePay, and 2Checkout come with their own issues; they may be great for simple product sales, but in most instances are not ideal for the complexity associated with booking retreats.

So, once you have booked your retreat venue and everything is ready to launch your retreat offer to your crowd there are some key features to look for in a payment solution such as; secure and safe environment for merchants and consumers to transact, a wide selection of payment options and currencies, as well as low fees. Additional features to consider carefully are the user experience, ease of integration with your website, administrative tools, and basic registration management functionality. These features often differentiate booking platforms (e.g., WeTravel, RegFox, Eventbrite, FareHarbor) from simpler payment gateways as they bring a complete solution to merchants, or in this Retreat leaders selling their retreat spaces.

Within these platforms you can manage all financial activities such as refunds, discount codes, payment plans, balance due reminders as well as communicating with your clients.

We have assembled below a chart that compares several payment gateways and booking platforms that will give you some guidance. With it you will be able to evaluate your requirements, priorities, and budget in light of the considerations above to figure out which of these might be right for your retreats.

We hope that this advice will help you in your retreat planning creation and will bring some ease to the whole process which shouldn’t be complicated if we are using all the tools that are available nowadays.

With special thanks to Jen Corley who kindly offered her expertise in retreat registration and payments technologies.