01
The critical checkout moment in your online store
Checkout is the most delicate moment in the entire online purchase process. The visitor has browsed your page, chosen a product, added it to the cart, and is ready to pay. Any friction at this point can make them change their mind. And one of the biggest sources of friction is the redirect: taking the user off your page and sending them to an external site to complete payment. That is exactly what happens with many Redsys implementations and other virtual POS systems.
When the user clicks "Pay" and suddenly sees a different page, with a different design, different colors, and a different URL, their brain fires an alert. That is not where they were a second ago. That does not look like the store where they were shopping. That might not be safe. This context switch creates distrust, confusion, and, in a significant percentage of cases, cart abandonment.
02
Redsys: the dominant payment gateway in Spain
Redsys is the card payment processing system used by the vast majority of Spanish banks. If you have a virtual POS contracted with your bank in Spain, it is almost certainly processed by Redsys. It is a robust, secure, certified system that has worked reliably for years. The problem is not Redsys's security or reliability; the problem is how it is integrated into the user's purchase experience.
The most common Redsys integration is via redirect. The user clicks pay, is sent to the Redsys page (with its own design and URL), enters card details, goes through 3D Secure verification, and is then redirected back to your store. Each of these jumps is an opportunity for the user to abandon. Industry data suggests that checkout redirects can increase abandonment rates by 10 to 25 percent.
03
Embedded checkout: the no-redirect alternative
An embedded checkout is one where the payment form sits directly on your page, without redirecting the user to an external site. Card fields, verification, and payment confirmation happen inside your own checkout, with your design, your colors, and your URL. The user never leaves your store, and the experience feels fluid, coherent, and secure.
Not every Redsys integration offers this option. Redirect integration is the simplest to implement, but Redsys's inSite integration lets you embed the payment form on your page. Alternatively, gateways like AtomicPay offer embedded checkout natively, processing payments through their own certified systems without redirecting the user to any external site.
The difference in user experience between a redirect checkout and an embedded checkout is huge. With an embedded checkout, payment feels like one more step in the purchase, not a jump into unknown territory. Trust is maintained, buying momentum is preserved, and conversion rates improve significantly.
04
What redirects really cost in numbers
Let's do a simple calculation. Suppose your store gets 10,000 visitors a month, that 3 percent add a product to the cart (300 users), and that 60 percent of them reach checkout (180 users). With a redirect checkout that has a 30 percent abandonment rate at the payment step, 126 users complete the purchase. With an embedded checkout that cuts that abandonment to 15 percent, 153 users complete it. That is 27 more sales a month without changing anything about your product, price, or traffic.
If your average ticket is 80 euros, those 27 sales represent 2,160 euros of additional monthly revenue, or 25,920 euros a year. And all from eliminating a redirect. The cost of implementing an embedded checkout pays for itself in weeks, not months. It is one of the highest-ROI optimizations you can make in your online store.
05
Security: embedded checkout is just as safe
A legitimate concern is whether an embedded checkout is as secure as a redirect to Redsys. The answer is yes, as long as it is implemented correctly. Modern payment gateways use tokenization, encryption, and 3D Secure to protect buyer data. Card details never pass through your servers: they are sent directly from the buyer's browser to the payment gateway server through a secure iframe or an encrypted direct connection.
To complete your sales flow, your landing page built with Atomicat can integrate checkout directly without a redirect, creating a continuous purchase experience from the first ad click through to payment confirmation. And if you use sales video with AtomicPlayer, the buy button under the video can lead straight to the embedded checkout, closing the persuasion and payment loop on a single page.
06
The mobile checkout experience: where integration matters most
On mobile devices, redirecting to an external checkout is even more damaging than on desktop. The small screen makes the context switch more disorienting, loading a new page on 4G is slower, and returning to the store after payment can be confusing if the mobile browser does not handle redirects well. An embedded mobile checkout keeps the buyer in a single fluid experience that works inside the same browser window.
Also, embedded mobile checkout lets you take advantage of native phone features that a Redsys redirect does not support. For example, autofill of card details saved in the mobile browser, biometric authentication (fingerprint or facial recognition) to confirm payment, and integration with digital wallets such as Apple Pay or Google Pay. Each of these features removes a manual step the user would otherwise have to do with their finger on a small screen.
07
Checkout customization as an extension of your brand
A redirect virtual POS has a standard look you cannot customize. It is the same Redsys page with the same colors and design for every merchant. An embedded checkout, by contrast, adapts to your store's design: your colors, typography, logo, and language. That visual continuity reinforces buyer trust because they feel they never left your store.
Customization goes beyond visuals. You can adapt checkout messages to your brand tone. Instead of the generic "Enter your card details," you can write "One last step to access your course." Instead of "Processing," you can show "Preparing your access." These details seem minor, but they contribute to a purchase experience that feels carefully crafted and professional at every step. The payment gateway is the last impression the buyer takes before becoming a customer.
08
Security and trust at checkout
Paradoxically, a redirect to Redsys can generate more trust among certain Spanish buyer segments than an embedded checkout. Buyers over 50 and those less used to online shopping may feel safer seeing their bank's page (via Redsys) than entering card details on an unfamiliar page, no matter how well designed. The Redsys logo and the institutional look of its payment page convey the sense that "my bank is handling the payment," which reduces anxiety.
For younger buyers used to ecommerce, the situation is the reverse. They are accustomed to the embedded checkouts of Amazon, Zara, and other major stores, and a redirect to an external page feels suspicious or, at best, outdated. For this segment, a virtual POS with an embedded checkout that displays security seals (SSL, PCI DSS) and accepted card logos builds more trust than a Redsys redirect.
The ideal solution is to know your audience and adapt checkout accordingly. If your audience is predominantly young and digital, prioritize embedded checkout. If your audience is diverse in age and digital experience, consider offering both options: an embedded checkout as the default and a "Pay through my bank" link for those who prefer a Redsys redirect. That flexibility maximizes trust and minimizes abandonment at the critical conversion moment with your payment gateway.
09
Conclusion: every redirect is a money leak
Redirecting to an external virtual POS is a practice inherited from an era when no viable alternatives existed. Today, with modern payment gateways that offer embedded checkout at the same security level, keeping a redirect in your payment process is voluntarily choosing to lose sales. Redsys remains excellent payment processing infrastructure, but how you integrate it into checkout is the difference between a store that converts and one that leaves money on the table. Eliminate the redirect, embed payment on your page, and watch your conversion rate rise.