The Best Payment Gateway for Skincare Businesses

Please note that the information about the companies in this article was sourced from their respective websites as of June 2025. This information may be subject to change.

The UK skincare market is growing fast. It’s worth £4.14 billion in 2024 and expected to reach £4.78 billion by 2030. It’s part of a £12.5 billion beauty and personal care industry, where beauty industry payment processing plays a big role in helping brands stay competitive as trends shift and customer expectations grow.

For many customers, buying skincare is an impulse decision, often sparked by a post on social media. That means the checkout process has to be fast, simple, and mobile-friendly. This guide looks at payment options that work well for skincare brands, including newer tools like Noda that help you cut costs and give customers a smooth way to pay.

What Makes Payment Processing Different for Skincare Brands?

Skincare stores deal with challenges that most other online shops don’t, especially when it comes to how people discover and buy products. A lot of skincare sales start with a quick moment on social media—someone sees a product go viral on TikTok or Instagram and wants to try it right away. That kind of impulse buying means your payment system needs to be fast, simple, and mobile-friendly, so people can check out in seconds without getting frustrated or distracted.

Most skincare shopping now happens on phones, especially through social platforms. If your checkout isn’t smooth on mobile, you’re likely to lose sales. One-tap payment options and clean, easy-to-use pages make a big difference here. For brands offering subscription boxes, things get even more complex. You need a system that can handle repeat payments, let customers pause or change their plan, and avoid losing them over one failed transaction.

Trust also plays a huge role. Skincare buyers often care as much about a brand’s values and ingredient transparency as they do about the product itself. That means the checkout experience needs to feel secure and professional, especially for first-time buyers who may not know your brand yet.

Skincare sales can also be unpredictable. Trends, viral ingredients, and seasonal changes can all cause sudden spikes in demand. Your payment system needs to keep up when those moments hit, without slowing down or failing. And because skincare is so personal, returns and sample orders are more common than in other industries. Your payment gateway should be able to handle things like partial refunds and flexible billing without causing delays for you or your customers.

Best Payment Gateways For Skincare Businesses

We've reviewed payment solutions for skin care based on their ability to handle social media-driven purchases, subscription complexity, and mobile-first checkout flows:

Noda

Noda is a payment solution that uses Open Banking, allowing customers to pay directly from their bank using their app. This removes the need for cards and helps speed up the checkout process. Payments are confirmed instantly, which is useful when someone’s buying on impulse after seeing a product ad. The checkout is designed to work smoothly on mobile devices, which helps reduce cart abandonment.

Noda integrates easily with platforms like WooCommerce, PrestaShop, OpenCart and Magento and custom websites via powerful APIs. You can also send secure payment links, which can be useful for things like influencer orders, PR requests, or custom skincare consultations. Because payments go directly from bank to bank, there are no chargebacks, and fees are kept low compared to traditional card payments. 

Noda is available across the UK and EU, giving you full coverage whether you're selling locally or expanding into Europe.

Stripe

Stripe is a powerful payment platform that works well for skincare brands with more complex needs, especially those planning to expand internationally or offer subscription services like monthly beauty boxes. Stripe’s subscription tools are flexible, making it easy to offer tiered pricing, pause or resume plans, and recover failed payments automatically. It also provides detailed insights into customer behaviour, which can help you track sales trends and improve the shopping experience.

In the UK, card fees start at 1.5 % + 20p, with higher rates for international payments. While Stripe is feature-rich, it can be expensive for high-volume, low-margin sales, and it requires technical support to get the most out of it, which may not suit smaller or fast-moving skincare brands focused on simplicity and cost control.

PayPal

PayPal is a well-known and trusted payment option that can help new skincare shops build credibility quickly, especially when competing with larger, established names. It’s often the go-to choice for customers who feel more comfortable using PayPal over entering card details on a website they’re not familiar with. With over 400 million users worldwide, PayPal helps reduce hesitation at checkout and is easy to set up without technical knowledge.

It also supports international sales, which is helpful for cosmetic businesses reaching customers abroad. However, the fees can be high, typically from 1.2% + fixed fee for UK transactions, and over 3% for international payments. For skincare businesses with lower margins or high order volumes, these costs can add up quickly and may not be sustainable as a primary payment method.

Square

Square offers an all-in-one solution—payment processing, POS systems, and ecommerce tools—which is useful if you also sell at markets, pop-ups, or salons. The setup is fast and doesn’t require much technical experience, and it works well with platforms like WooCommerce and Wix.

Square also provides helpful tools for tracking sales, managing inventory, and even booking appointments for beauty consultations. The downside is its international capabilities are more limited than Stripe or PayPal, so if you plan to grow globally or target customers outside the UK, you may find Square less flexible.

Worldpay

Worldpay offers a wide range of payment options, security tools, and custom pricing for businesses handling large volumes. It’s suited to more established online skin care businesses—those with a chain of stores, significant online turnover, or advanced fraud prevention needs.

Worldpay supports international currencies and has strong tools for recurring billing and advanced reporting. It’s a solid option for larger skincare retailers managing complex operations or launching global campaigns.

That said, it’s still mainly built around card payments, both online and in-store,  and that can get expensive. Card fees are higher than bank payments, which makes Worldpay less cost-effective for skin care businesses that sell lower-priced items or have tight margins.

Payment processing solutions for skin care businesses:

How to Choose a Payment Gateway for Your Online Skin Care Store

Firstly, start by looking at how your customers buy from you. If you sell a lot of smaller items like samples or trial kits, fixed fees can quickly add up, so it's smart to look for a low-cost payment gateway options for skin care that keeps those charges minimal. And if you offer things like virtual skincare consultations or limited-time deals, instant payment confirmation is a must. You don’t want slow processing to lose the sale.

Next, think about how you attract new customers. Sampling works, but only if the payment fees don’t eat into your margins. A smooth, low-cost payment system can turn those small orders into a smart, sustainable growth strategy.

Read: How to Reduce Card Processing Fees with Open Banking and More

If you offer subscriptions—like monthly boxes or seasonal routines—make sure your payment provider can handle flexible billing, payment failures, and changes without too much manual effort.

Also consider how and where your customers are buying. Beauty shoppers often discover your products on social media and check out on their phones. If your payment process feels clunky on mobile, they’ll drop off. A simpler, faster experience can make all the difference.

And finally, think about where your business is going. Whether you're selling to salons, expanding into Europe, or working with dermatologists, you’ll need a payment solution that’s not only affordable but flexible and future-proof.

Make Checkout Easier (and Cheaper) with Noda

Noda uses Open Banking, which means your customers pay straight from their bank app. It feels fast and familiar for them, and it’s a lot more affordable for you. With fees starting from just 0.1% per transaction, you’ll save money on every sale compared to traditional gateways that charge 2–3% or more.

That can make a big difference, especially if you sell mid-range products. You keep more of the money you earn, instead of watching it disappear in fees.

Noda is also built for how people shop today:

• It works perfectly on mobile, so you don’t lose customers scrolling on social media
• Payments are confirmed instantly, and the money lands in your account instantly too, unlike card payments, which can take days.
• No chargebacks, which means less admin and fewer headaches
• You can send payment links for PR kits, influencer collabs, or custom routines
• It connects easily with WooCommerce, PrestaShop, Magento and OpenCart, or your own site via API

If you’re spending too much on payment fees or losing sales to clunky checkout pages, Noda is a simpler, faster, more cost-effective way to get paid.

Start with Noda and see how much smoother your payments can be—for you and your customers.