 Make
It Easy to Purchase With PayPal
Did
you know that PayPal handles 12% of
the eCommerce transactions in the
United States, and 9% globally?
Every
second of every day, PayPal pumps
$2,000 of transactions through it's
systems. That's $173 million in transactions
per day.
Yet
most websites ignore PayPal and only
allow visitors to purchase with Visa
or MasterCard. I think this is a mistake.
 Just
Need Email & Password
Because
I have a PayPal account, and it's
tied to my bank account and a couple
of credit cards, all I need to do
to make a purchase is log in with
my email address and password. And
boom -- it's all set.
Have
you ever had the frustrating experience
of trying to remember where the credit
card you want to use is located? And
then... what's the correct billing
address again?
PayPal
as Only Method of Payment
That
said, I don't recommend using PayPal
as the only method of payment for
your website. It's important to take
Visa, MasterCard and American Express,
as these are the dominant payment
methods.
A
site that just uses PayPal
risks appearing amateur in the eyes
of a site visitor. Their thinking
may be, "If they can't figure
out how to take Visa or MasterCard,
this must not be a very sophisticated
site." (Whether or not this is
true.)
PayPal
as Payment Option
Instead,
I recommend using PayPal as one possible
payment option.
When
the site visitor comes to the place
where they type in their credit card
information, display a big button
like this one:
How
Does PayPal Work:
How
it Works:
A user goes to the PayPal website
and creates an account. They can add
a credit card to their account or
tie it directly to their bank account.
To
verify your financial information,
PayPal will often make two small deposits
into your bank account (a few cents).
You then verify your information by
entering in these amounts into your
profile.
When
you wish to make a purchase, you log
into your PayPal account with your
email address and password. You then
verify the amount, who the payment
is going to, and select what method
of payment you'd like to use (credit
card, bank account, etc). After you
hit submit, the money is taken from
your account and then sent off to
the other party.
PayPal
is not just for making purchases --
it allows you to send money to friends
and family, even overseas.
Advantages:
Quick.
Fast. Easy. Free. Added protection
for consumers. Company doesn't receive
your credit card information.
Disadvantages:
The
biggest drawback is that some merchants
will take longer to process a PayPal
payment vs. a Visa or MasterCard payment.
In some cases, this can delay an order
by a day or so.
Summary:
Give
your customers a choice - allow them
to checkout with PayPal.
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