Growth: stores with M-Pesa and card
Let customers pay by M‑Pesa and card.
Selling through WhatsApp, Instagram or phone calls works until orders get lost and payments don’t match. We build a proper store, or connect M-Pesa (Safaricom’s mobile money) and card to the one you have, and test real small payments both ways before it goes live.
We review your setup and confirm the scope and next steps in writing before work starts.
Self-check
Is your store losing sales at checkout?
Recognise two or more of these? Then payments and orders are costing you time, and probably sales. Each one has a plain fix.
The words we use, in plain terms:
M-Pesa
Safaricom’s mobile money, paid from the customer’s phone.
STK push
The prompt that pops up on the customer’s phone at checkout. They enter their PIN and it’s paid.
Gateway
A payment gateway: the service that takes card payments safely and pays them out to you.
Customers ask “Can I pay with M-Pesa?” Your site takes cards only, or nothing at all, so they message you instead or give up.
Orders come in by DM and get lost. WhatsApp, Instagram and phone orders sit in different chats, and some are never sent.
Card payments fail. Customers say the card step hangs or declines, and you can’t see why.
You reconcile payments by hand. Matching M-Pesa messages and bank lines to orders, one by one, at the end of the day.
Stock is wrong. You sell something you no longer have, or the site says sold out when the shelf is full.
Shipping costs are a surprise at checkout. Delivery appears at the last step, or gets agreed later by message, and the basket is left.
Before we build
What we decide together first
A store is only as reliable as the decisions behind it. We settle these with you on the call and write them down before any work starts.
Is your current site unstable, hacked or hard to update? We’ll say so on the call and point you to Rescue first.
Your M-Pesa till or paybill number.
A till or paybill is the business number customers pay into. You apply for it with Safaricom in your business’s name. We help you through the forms and choose which suits you, but it’s yours and the money goes straight to it.
A card gateway account in your name.
The payment gateway pays card money out to your bank account, so the account must be yours, not ours. We’ll suggest options that work in your country and with your platform.
Your products and photos.
Names, prices, sizes or colours, stock counts and photos. A simple spreadsheet is fine. We’ll tell you what’s missing.
Delivery zones and prices.
Where you deliver, what it costs and whether customers can collect. Set at checkout, so the total is clear before anyone pays.
Who handles orders.
Who gets told about a new order, who packs it and who handles refunds. Every alert goes to a named person, not a shared inbox nobody checks.
Service options
Connect payments, build a store, or keep it running
Most people start by adding M-Pesa and card to the store they already have. If you sell only through messages today, start with a new store.
01
Recommended
Add M‑Pesa and card to your store
For an existing WooCommerce or Shopify store. Both payment methods connected and tested.
- M-Pesa at checkout, with an STK push to the customer’s phone
- Payments go to your own till or paybill
- Card payments through a gateway account in your name
- Orders marked paid only when the money is confirmed
- Real small payments tested both ways, including a refund
- Written handover: how each payment matches its order
- Not included: building the store itself
02
New WooCommerce store
For selling through DMs and calls today. A proper store, built and owned by you.
- Everything in Add M-Pesa and card, plus:
- A WooCommerce store on your own domain
- Products, prices and photos loaded from your list
- Stock counts that go down with each sale
- Delivery zones and prices shown before payment
- Order alerts to the person who packs
- Training for whoever handles orders
03
Store care
After either plan, we keep payments, updates and orders working month to month.
- Care for the agreed store setup can include:
- A backup before every update
- Store, plugin and payment updates applied, then tested
- A test payment through each method after changes
- Help when a payment doesn’t match an order
- A short monthly written note of what we did
We review your setup and confirm the scope and next steps in writing before work starts.
Payment provider fees aren’t ours. Safaricom’s M-Pesa charges and the card gateway’s fees are set by each provider and paid to them directly. Check current rates with your payment provider before choosing the integration.
Logos belong to their owners. Listing a tool doesn’t mean a partnership.
How it works
How a store build works
Six steps, in this order. Nothing goes live until a real payment has gone through and come back out.
Adding M-Pesa and card to a store you already have follows the same steps. In step 03 we connect your store rather than build a new one.
01
We agree products, payments and delivery.
On the call we settle what you sell, which payment methods you’ll take, where you deliver and what it costs. We write it down, with the agreed scope.
02
We set up accounts in your name.
Your till or paybill, your card gateway, your domain and your store. We guide you through each sign-up, so the money and the logins stay yours.
03
We build or connect the store.
Products, stock, delivery prices and checkout for a new store. For an existing one, M-Pesa and card are added to the checkout you already have, with a backup taken first.
04
We test real small payments both ways.
A small real order by M-Pesa and by card, then a refund of each. We check the money arrives, the order is marked paid, the right person is told, and what a customer sees if they cancel the prompt.
05
We train whoever handles orders.
A short session with you or your staff: finding new orders, matching a payment to its order, updating stock and giving a refund.
06
We go live and watch the first week’s orders.
We check that each early order’s payment matches, and fix anything odd straight away. Then you get the written handover.
BearStackCheckout and payments
Every payment accounted for.
Connect M-Pesa, cards and orders in one checkout.
Access
What we need from you
Once you’ve agreed the fee, we’ll ask for these. Nothing more.
We’ll never ask for your M-Pesa PIN.Never send PINs or passwords by email, text or WhatsApp. Invite us as a user where the provider allows it. For logins, we send a one-time secure link that expires once it’s opened.
An admin login for your store, if you have one.A separate admin account for us on WooCommerce or Shopify, which you remove when we’re done.
Your till or paybill details from Safaricom.The business number and the connection keys that let your store send the payment prompt. We’ll show you where to create them in your own account.
A user invite to your card gateway.So we can connect it to the checkout and check test payments. Payouts stay set to your bank account.
Domain access, only if needed.Your registrar (the company you bought your web address from), if the store needs a new address or settings. We’ll tell you first.
Your product list and an hour for training.Products, prices, stock and photos for a new store, and time with whoever will handle orders.
Proof, not promises
What you get in writing
A plain-language handover document you can keep, share with your bookkeeper, or hand to the next person who runs the store.
You get it with Add M-Pesa and card and with a New WooCommerce store. Store care adds a short monthly note.
In every store handover
01 Logins
Every account, in your name: store, till or paybill, card gateway and domain, with who has access and how to remove it.
02 Payments
How each payment method is connected, and where its money is paid out to.
03 Reconciling
How payments reconcile: how to match an M-Pesa or card payment to its order, step by step, without guesswork.
04 Orders
Where each order lands and who is told, plus how stock and delivery prices are set.
05 Test results
Each test payment and refund, by method: what we did, what arrived, and what the customer and your staff saw.
06 First week
What we saw in the first week’s orders, anything we fixed, and what to watch next.
Related Growth services
Speed and Core Web Vitals
A checkout that crawls on mobile data loses the sale before the payment prompt appears. We measure where you start, fix the biggest causes and show you the difference.
See speed and Core Web Vitals
Google Ads and tracking
Once the store takes payments, see which ads and pages bring the paid orders. Tracking set up in GA4 (Google Analytics) and Tag Manager, tested with real test orders.
See Google Ads and tracking
Let’s talk about your website
Let’s plan your checkout.
Tell us how you sell, how customers pay and where orders get stuck. Share your store address if you already have one.
- 01 Share your website
- 02 Tell us your goal
- 03 Agree the next step
FAQ
Store questions, answered
Something not covered here? Ask it in the form and we'll answer it on the call.
Do I need a till or a paybill?
We review the M-Pesa account and payment provider your checkout will use. Account requirements, available integrations and the payment tests are confirmed before setup; provider approval and timing are handled by the provider.
Who holds the money?
You do. M-Pesa payments go straight to your own till or paybill. Card payments go to your gateway account and are paid out to your bank on the gateway’s schedule. BearStack never holds, routes or touches your customers’ money.
Can customers pay by card from abroad?
Usually, yes. Which cards and currencies you can accept depends on the gateway and how your account is set up, so we check that before choosing one. M-Pesa suits customers with an M-Pesa account; card covers most others, including family and customers overseas.
WooCommerce or Shopify?
We review your current platform and the payment methods it supports before recommending a route. The store plan, integrations and ongoing care are agreed around your setup.
What are the fees?
We confirm the work and any fee after reviewing your setup. Payment-provider, hosting and app charges are separate and should be checked with the relevant provider before you decide.
Can you connect my existing store?
We check the platform, payment provider and checkout before confirming what can be connected. If a move is needed, we explain the options and agree a separate scope.
Do you handle delivery?
We set up the delivery side of the store: your zones, prices and collection option at checkout, and the order alert to whoever packs. We don’t carry parcels or run a courier. You keep using your own rider, courier or post office.
What if a payment fails?
The order stays unpaid, so nothing is packed by mistake. The customer sees a clear message and can try again or choose the other method. We test this before go-live, including a cancelled M-Pesa prompt, and the handover explains how to check a payment you’re unsure about. With Store care, we help you look into it.
What happens when ongoing work ends?
Your accounts, data and written reports stay with you. We agree the terms for ongoing work before it starts and document the handover when it ends.