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August 12 2008
Major retailers add PayPal to their payments options
More and more retailers are adding PayPal to their list of payment options as one in three UK online shoppers say it's their preferred payment method...
PayPal is on a bit of a roll. Its share of consumer internet payments is up 5% over the last year, from 16% to 21%, 30% of UK online shoppers now say they prefer to use PayPal over any other form of payment online and over 120,000 retailers in Europe now accept PayPal.
"Major UK brands which have launched with PayPal in recent months include William Hill, CDWow, Victor Chandler and all the Arcadia brands; Burton, Dorothy Perkins, Evans, Miss Selfridge, Topman, Topshop and Wallis," says Mark Hodson, marketing director at PayPal UK.
"Online shoppers are still concerned about identity theft, and are rightly wary of typing their card details on ecommerce sites," Hodson explains. "PayPal offers the peace of mind that their financial details are not shared."
Speed is also a factor, Hodson believes. "Consumers are demanding faster online shopping experiences, which are both safe and secure. The convenience of being able to checkout in just a few clicks without having to type in payment details or address are what make PayPal such a popular way to pay."
A new PayPal debit card could also drive acceptance forward. The card is a joint venture with RBS and carries a Visa logo. No credit checks are carried out and consumers simply pay a £4.95 fee to get a card. They can then top up the card direct from their PayPal account or at any of the 19,800 PayPoint outlets around the country and spend the funds loaded onto the card online, on the high street or even abroad at any Visa merchant.
by Sarah Clark (Web Editor)
Paypal
Posted by
James
(TGC)
at
2008-11-20 10:31
The charges are higher than we pay our PSP & merchant account & it is still viewed as an online car booters payment of choice. I think its a shame we are having to consider this
Will Google Checkout be here in the long term? I don't think so...
Posted by
Sven Bauer
at
2008-11-20 12:57
I have been using PayPal for a while now and had been following Google to decide whether I should add them or not. Recently I read this comment on MediaPost that made me give up completely:
"Within its SEC 10-Q filing, Google specifically notes that they are "incurring significant costs and expenses to support our Google Checkout product and promote its adoption by merchants and consumers". In addition to this statement, they also acknowledged within the same filing that "Revenues realized through the Google Checkout were not material in any of the periods presented." "Whether or not Google Checkout is able to escape its seemingly terminal diagnosis, these events are a strong reminder that online success is not a popularity contest; the laws of the market dictate your survival not the brand name you are attached to. While the market has not had its final say on Google Checkout, as online marketers we must remember that no matter who introduces an offering, its success is dependent upon the value it is able to create for the market...and that will take more than some flash and Google's brand name".
Definitely something to think about...
"Within its SEC 10-Q filing, Google specifically notes that they are "incurring significant costs and expenses to support our Google Checkout product and promote its adoption by merchants and consumers". In addition to this statement, they also acknowledged within the same filing that "Revenues realized through the Google Checkout were not material in any of the periods presented." "Whether or not Google Checkout is able to escape its seemingly terminal diagnosis, these events are a strong reminder that online success is not a popularity contest; the laws of the market dictate your survival not the brand name you are attached to. While the market has not had its final say on Google Checkout, as online marketers we must remember that no matter who introduces an offering, its success is dependent upon the value it is able to create for the market...and that will take more than some flash and Google's brand name".
Definitely something to think about...
It's not a Debit Card
Posted by
Mark
at
2008-11-20 15:18
PayPal launched a prepaid card called Top Up card, not a Debit Card.
Re: It's not a Debit Card
Posted by
Mike
at
2008-11-19 02:52
Well, to be fair, PayPal doesn't seem to be entirely sure what it is. Their site says "The PayPal Top Up card is a new product from PayPal. It gives you control over your money, use it like a debit card to make withdrawals from your PayPal account, or use it at home or abroad wherever you see the Visa logo."
It would seem that, officially, it is "a product" :)
It would seem that, officially, it is "a product" :)
Technically...
Posted by
shaanie
(IB)
at
2008-11-19 02:40
Paypal is a registered bank and the 'top-up' card would 'debit' monies from a paypal account so the 'product' would be a debit card. I have recently re-integrated paypal onto my site and was shocked by the amount of people that actually use it!
not a debit card
Posted by
Chris
at
2008-11-20 10:21
A debit card can withdraw funds from the account linked to it and the limit is the available funds in the account, it supports pre authorisation. A topup card requires topups which take time to clear (unlike using a debit card) and cannot be used for certian transactions. I have a paypal topup card and it is defenitly not a debit card. A true paypal debit card would not need manual topping up and would simply automatically take funds from the paypal account when used.
I might look at them again
Posted by
Dan
at
2008-11-20 21:51
Thats interesting, I had moved away from them a long time ago, I also integrated Google checkout recently. It is good news that major retailers are throwing their weight behind the payment option as it used to be considered as a payment method used by small or less trusted shops / services online. Google checkout by comparison is bug ridden.
PayPal or Google....or both?
Posted by
James Gurd
(e-inbusiness)
at
2008-11-21 02:16
It is interesting to see the take-up between PayPal Express and Google Checkout. PayPal has the greater market share with over 20m UK accounts and the strength of eBay behind it; Google will not release exact account numbers (it is in the millions) but it has an ace up its sleeve - PPC incentives for AdWords. For every £1 you spend on AdWords, you get £10 of free transactions via Google Checkout. If you are a big PPC spender and have integrated Google Checkout, you can reduce your transaction fees (Google is currently 1.5% + £0.15 per transaction v PayPal sliding scale of 3.4% to 1.4% + £0.20). Unless you think the UK search market is going to quickly wither, that is a strong USP.
If you are unsure about the benefits of alternative payment options, read Forrester's report "Why Consumers Like Alternative Payment Methods When Shopping Online", February 20th 2008.
I don't think there is a right answer for which one is best - they both offer advantages. However, online where choice is king, why limit your customers to only 1 option?
James Gurd
Head of Client Development
e-inbusiness
http://www.e-inbusiness.co.uk
If you are unsure about the benefits of alternative payment options, read Forrester's report "Why Consumers Like Alternative Payment Methods When Shopping Online", February 20th 2008.
I don't think there is a right answer for which one is best - they both offer advantages. However, online where choice is king, why limit your customers to only 1 option?
James Gurd
Head of Client Development
e-inbusiness
http://www.e-inbusiness.co.uk
Fees aren't the only issue...
Posted by
Ian Jindal
at
2008-11-20 18:44
Hi James - I agree in principle that there's no point in limiting choice to a customer of payment methods, but I don't think that the reservations are focused entirely upon fees. Google's offering is a commercially very viable one, but there are two big issues from a retailer's perspective: branding within the checkout process and CRM/insight. Retailers want their checkout steps to be fully reflective of their brand and online 'space' (arguably, customers could appreciate consistency across sites, but we're talking "retailers" atm). The Google one-size-fits-all may not in fact fit the retailer's view. The other (more significant) issue is that the checkout is a mine of information: customer details, contact preferences, basket item correlation and discounts taken/applied... In the world of gCheckout et al this information is a) given to Google and b) the retailer may not get permission from the purchaser for further contact.
I'm not being anti-google here, nor am I considering the customer perspective (where they may trust google with their data more than a retailer, where they appreciate a single place for all transaction records and a consistent reassuring interface for payments) - simply pointing out why a retailer's adoption may be influenced by more than the transaction fees.
I'm sure that in time these mechanisms will gain full adoption, driven by the fact that conversion benefits may outweigh data concerns, that new marketing mechanisms will evolve and, simply, that customers will prefer it when offered the choice. It'll just be painful ;)
I'm not being anti-google here, nor am I considering the customer perspective (where they may trust google with their data more than a retailer, where they appreciate a single place for all transaction records and a consistent reassuring interface for payments) - simply pointing out why a retailer's adoption may be influenced by more than the transaction fees.
I'm sure that in time these mechanisms will gain full adoption, driven by the fact that conversion benefits may outweigh data concerns, that new marketing mechanisms will evolve and, simply, that customers will prefer it when offered the choice. It'll just be painful ;)
Quality of data from alternative payment options
Posted by
James Gurd
(e-inbusiness)
at
2008-11-19 03:29
Hi Ian
Thanks for the response - you are right, branding and CRM are important issues. Both checkout options enable you to place your logo on the pages to at least maintain your brand visibility - yes this could be better. From a CRM point of view, Google provides encrypted email addresses that you can use for marketing. If the customer then decides to opt you out via their Google account, the encrypted email address will not work anymore. No different in principal to the usual opt-in database marketing, power in the hands of the customers as it should be. Google also provides transactional data but you don't get any card information. However, you can see the order values.
I think that sometimes we obsess about data at the expense of the customer experience... making life easier for your customer is potentially of more value to you than collecting their transaction information.
Yes, I want to analyse data. Yes I want to communicate with customers. But, what I really want is my customers to find buying from my website easy and convenient and to then tell others. That could have as much impact on bottom line as sending them emails and analysing basket size.
Sometimes you have to take the plunge and then monitor and evaluate. I think it is challenging rather than painful ! :)
James Gurd
Head of Client Development
e-inbusines
http://www.e-inbusiness.co.uk
info@e-inbusiness.co.uk
Thanks for the response - you are right, branding and CRM are important issues. Both checkout options enable you to place your logo on the pages to at least maintain your brand visibility - yes this could be better. From a CRM point of view, Google provides encrypted email addresses that you can use for marketing. If the customer then decides to opt you out via their Google account, the encrypted email address will not work anymore. No different in principal to the usual opt-in database marketing, power in the hands of the customers as it should be. Google also provides transactional data but you don't get any card information. However, you can see the order values.
I think that sometimes we obsess about data at the expense of the customer experience... making life easier for your customer is potentially of more value to you than collecting their transaction information.
Yes, I want to analyse data. Yes I want to communicate with customers. But, what I really want is my customers to find buying from my website easy and convenient and to then tell others. That could have as much impact on bottom line as sending them emails and analysing basket size.
Sometimes you have to take the plunge and then monitor and evaluate. I think it is challenging rather than painful ! :)
James Gurd
Head of Client Development
e-inbusines
http://www.e-inbusiness.co.uk
info@e-inbusiness.co.uk
Yes, Paypal is on a roll