Payments | Digital Commerce 360 https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/topic/payments/ Your source for ecommerce news, analysis and research Thu, 26 Oct 2023 21:25:29 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.3.2 https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/cropped-2022-DC360-favicon-d-32x32.png Payments | Digital Commerce 360 https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/topic/payments/ 32 32 Online shoppers want more forms of digital payments https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/2023/10/27/online-shoppers-want-more-forms-of-digital-payments/ Fri, 27 Oct 2023 13:00:53 +0000 https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/?p=1311264 Online shoppers are in the mood for new forms of digital payment options. But how fast those changes should occur varies by age group, says new research from finance, procurement and customer service applications developer Esker. 41% of consumers expect retailers and other businesses to adopt new payment technologies once they have been proven and […]

The post Online shoppers want more forms of digital payments appeared first on Digital Commerce 360.

]]>
Online shoppers are in the mood for new forms of digital payment options. But how fast those changes should occur varies by age group, says new research from finance, procurement and customer service applications developer Esker.

41% of consumers expect retailers and other businesses to adopt new payment technologies once they have been proven and any operational issues resolved. Meanwhile, another 41% expected this adoption to occur within the first year of technology availability.

The panel of nearly 600 consumers finds that 36% of respondents want to adopt new technologies within the first year of availability, such as peer-to-peer payment applications. This percentage increased to 44% when considering the age group of 25-44.

The power of digital payments

Peer-to-peer payments are funds transferred directly from one person’s bank account, checking account, credit or debit card, or payment app, to another person’s bank account, or app.

Younger generations are more likely to let payment processes influence their choice of businesses, says Esker. 59% of Generation Z shoppers say they had opted not to purchase a product or service if they were not offered an online payment option.

Additionally, 33% of consumers switched service providers due to inconvenient or complicated online payment processes. That figure rises to 54% among 18- to 24-year-olds.

“Businesses must embrace online payment technologies that align with consumer preferences,” says Esker U.S. chief operating officer Steve Smith.

Do you rank in our database?

Submit your data and we’ll see where you fit in our next ranking update.

Sign up

Stay on top of the latest developments in the ecommerce industry. Sign up for a complimentary subscription to Digital Commerce 360 Retail NewsFollow us on LinkedInTwitter and Facebook. Be the first to know when Digital Commerce 360 publishes news content.

Favorite

The post Online shoppers want more forms of digital payments appeared first on Digital Commerce 360.

]]>
Web shoppers will prioritize their holiday spending https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/2023/10/24/web-shoppers-prioritize-holiday-spending/ Tue, 24 Oct 2023 14:21:06 +0000 https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/?p=1311081 The evidence continues to pile up that web shoppers will keep spending online this holiday shopping season. But shoppers, both online and offline, do have limits, including how much they will spend and where they will spend it, according to new research from the International Council of Shopping Centers. The survey of 1,007 consumers projects […]

The post Web shoppers will prioritize their holiday spending appeared first on Digital Commerce 360.

]]>
The evidence continues to pile up that web shoppers will keep spending online this holiday shopping season.

But shoppers, both online and offline, do have limits, including how much they will spend and where they will spend it, according to new research from the International Council of Shopping Centers.

The survey of 1,007 consumers projects that about 204 million consumers (87%) will head to brick-and-mortar stores this holiday season. Meanwhile, three-quarters of respondents say they plan to make a purchase online and have the items shipped to them. Expected spending is evenly split between online and in-person shopping, with 41% of total expenditures expected to happen at a physical store, compared with 42% online, and 17% click and collect.

Consumers plan holiday spending differently

Consumers anticipate consolidating their purchases across fewer retailers this holiday season. They plan to purchase from an average of 2.4 different types of retailers, compared with 3.4 in 2022. Discount department stores remain the most popular stop for 63% of shoppers. Traditional department stores are the second-most popular destination (34%), followed by electronics stores (22%).

During those shopping trips, most consumers plan to pay with a debit (63%) or credit (50%) card. Nearly half (48%) expect to pay with cash, while 14% will leverage buy-now-pay-later options.

Gift cards remain the most popular category for purchases — an item that’s on the shopping list of 63% of respondents — followed by apparel and footwear (56%), and toys and games (49%). 45% of consumers plan to purchase food, like pre-packaged baskets and alcohol, while electronics and experiential purchases were cited by 41% and 22% of respondents, respectively.

79% of consumers plan to start shopping for the holidays earlier than they normally would. In fact, one in four already started their holiday shopping in August or earlier. Of the consumers who plan to shop earlier for the holidays, 51% do so for the early promotions.

“This year’s forecast shows the industry is balancing itself out after rapid growth over the last few years,” ICSC CEO Tom McGee.

Do you rank in our database?

Submit your data and we’ll see where you fit in our next ranking update.

Sign up

Stay on top of the latest developments in the ecommerce industry. Sign up for a complimentary subscription to Digital Commerce 360 Retail NewsFollow us on LinkedInTwitter and Facebook. Be the first to know when Digital Commerce 360 publishes news content.

Favorite

The post Web shoppers will prioritize their holiday spending appeared first on Digital Commerce 360.

]]>
Ikea adds BNPL late in the game — why? https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/2023/10/10/ikea-adds-bnpl-late-in-the-game-why/ Tue, 10 Oct 2023 12:45:05 +0000 https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/?p=1310277 Buy now, pay later (BNPL) allows consumers to pay for products or services in a series of interest-free installments. Housewares and home furnishings retailer Ikea added the payment option in September 2023. “We know we’re a little late to the game with BNPL. But we really wanted to see how it was going to play […]

The post Ikea adds BNPL late in the game — why? appeared first on Digital Commerce 360.

]]>
Buy now, pay later (BNPL) allows consumers to pay for products or services in a series of interest-free installments. Housewares and home furnishings retailer Ikea added the payment option in September 2023.

“We know we’re a little late to the game with BNPL. But we really wanted to see how it was going to play out,” says Christine Briganti, financial services deployment project leader, Ikea

“After looking at BNPL, we’ve structured it in a thoughtful way to service a demographic at Ikea we weren’t serving properly,” Briganti says.

That demographic included consumers that don’t want an Ikea credit card or don’t qualify for one. Ikea already offers a private label Visa credit card that starts at $500.

“We wanted to make sure that the BNPL option wasn’t in direct competition with that,” she says.

Ikea uses Afterpay to offer customers the ability to pay using BNPL for purchases ranging from $40-$500.

Other retailers like Wayfair LLC began offering BNPL in 2016. Amazon.com Inc. in 2018 through Amazon Pay and then through Affirm in 2021, Walmart Inc. offered Affirm in 2019, and Target Corp. through Sezzle and Affirm in 2021.

“We know this is an inflationary time and coming out of this pandemic where people have lost jobs or taken jobs that pay less and they’re maxing out credit cards. We wanted to make sure that if you were not qualified for traditional credit, that this would help the consumer not overextend themselves,” Briganti says.

BNPL vs. credit cards

Unlike Afterpay, consumers that want to use a higher-amount-limit Ikea Visa must go through a traditional credit check and approval process. “Not everyone can qualify for a Visa card,” Briganti says.

“We had been approached by several vendors about offering a higher credit limit change. We might reevaluate in 2-5 years and bump it up,” Briganti says. “But for starting out, we have noticed quite a bit as default rates have gone up with higher limits that we did not want to risk the financial health of our consumers.”

The Ikea shopper is generally 20 to 40 years old, “and that demographic loves technology,” Briganti says. “So, we always wanted to bring BNPL to market. It just took us a while to evaluate what the rest of the market was doing.”

BNPL helps Ikea steer sales

With a lower limit, Briganti says BNPL helps the retailer “steer sales,” she says. “If you were going to buy a living room coffee table and you saw one for $100, but maybe there’s another for $200-$300, you might opt for the higher-priced table if you’re not paying cash for it upfront,” she says.

Jewelry, automotive parts, and apparel retailers most likely to offer BNPL

While more than half of the Top 1000 retailers offer BNPL, the top retailers differ in which  pay-in-installment vendor they offer. 18.3% of Top 1000 retailers offer PayPal credit, one of PayPal’s versions of BNPL, 14.7% offer Affirm, 13.3% offer Klarna, and 11.9% offer AfterPay, with other services coming in behind. 18.9% of retailers offer multiple BNPL vendors.

Jewelry, automotive parts, and apparel retailers are the most likely to offer BNPL. Food and beverage companies are the least likely, according to Top 1000 data.

Ikea is No. 7 in the Europe Database. The database ranks the region’s largest online retailers based on their web sales.

Do you rank in our database?

Submit your data and we’ll see where you fit in our next ranking update.

Sign up

Stay on top of the latest developments in the ecommerce industry. Sign up for a complimentary subscription to Digital Commerce 360 Retail News.

Follow us on LinkedInTwitter and Facebook. Be the first to know when Digital Commerce 360 publishes news content.

Favorite

The post Ikea adds BNPL late in the game — why? appeared first on Digital Commerce 360.

]]>
Adobe forecasts online holiday spending will exceed $221 billion https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/2023/10/05/adobe-holiday-spending-ecommerce-forecast/ Thu, 05 Oct 2023 20:23:44 +0000 https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/?p=1310249 Retail analytics firm Adobe forecasts U.S. online holiday spending will reach $221.8 billion in 2023. That would put spending up 4.8% year over year from $211.7 billion in 2022. Adobe measures the holiday season between Nov. 1 and Dec. 31 based on online transactions. Mobile shopping will be big in 2023 The Adobe holiday spending […]

The post Adobe forecasts online holiday spending will exceed $221 billion appeared first on Digital Commerce 360.

]]>
Retail analytics firm Adobe forecasts U.S. online holiday spending will reach $221.8 billion in 2023. That would put spending up 4.8% year over year from $211.7 billion in 2022. Adobe measures the holiday season between Nov. 1 and Dec. 31 based on online transactions.

Mobile shopping will be big in 2023

The Adobe holiday spending forecast predicts more than half of online spending (51.2%) will be made on mobile devices in 2023. That would be a significant increase from 44.88% last holiday season, according to Adobe data. 

The analytics firm says mobile spending will hit a record of $113 billion this holiday season, up 13.7% year over year. Mobile holiday spending is projected to be highest on Thanksgiving and Christmas, when consumers are most likely to be spending time with friends and family, Adobe says. 

Retailers will offer steep discounts

Adobe says holiday discounts will reach record levels this year, with sales up to 35% off listed prices. 

The vendor predicts toys, electronics and apparel will see the highest discounts. For example, toys will peak at 35% off listed price, Adobe says, compared to 34% off in 2022. Electronics discounts will likely hit 30%, up from 25% in 2022, and 25% for apparel, up from 19%. 

Cyber Week will be the time when consumers can find the biggest discounts, Adobe says. Cyber Week alone will drive $37.2 billion in online holiday spending, 16.8% of the total season, according to Adobe. That’s up 5.4% year over year. Adobe predicts Cyber Monday will be the single biggest shopping day of the season and the year, with $12 billion in spending. 

“Despite an unpredictable economic environment, where consumers face several challenges including rising interest rates, we expect strong ecommerce growth this season on account of record discounts and flexible payment methods,” Patrick Brown, vice president of growth marketing at Adobe, said in a written statement.

BNPL keeps growing

Buy now, pay later (BNPL) is projected to be used as a payment method for more online spending than ever this holiday season. Adobe projects BNPL will be used for $17 billion in online spending, an increase of $2.5 billion and 16.9% over 2022. 

November is slated to be the largest month of BNPL usage on record, with $9.3 billion in spending. Adobe predicts $782 million in spending with BNPL on Cyber Monday, surpassing the previous record of $658 million on the shopping holiday in 2022.

BNPL has already shown significant growth in 2023. As of October 2023, U.S. consumers spend $46.7 billion through the payment method, up 14.7% from the previous year. BNPL growth is greatest in the grocery, home and furniture and apparel categories, Adobe says.

Do you rank in our database?

Submit your data and we’ll see where you fit in our next ranking update.

Sign up

Stay on top of the latest developments in the ecommerce industry. Sign up for a complimentary subscription to Digital Commerce 360 Retail News. Follow us on LinkedInTwitter and Facebook. Be the first to know when Digital Commerce 360 publishes news content.

Favorite

The post Adobe forecasts online holiday spending will exceed $221 billion appeared first on Digital Commerce 360.

]]>
Frequent online B2B buyers want a better purchasing experience https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/2023/09/06/global-b2b-buyer-behavior/ Wed, 06 Sep 2023 18:10:29 +0000 https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/?p=1308658 A recent international survey of 1,006 B2B buyers found that 74% of them regularly use online commerce platforms to purchase products. However, 31% said technical issues kept them from completing an online purchase. The Global B2B Buyer Behavior Report, which surveyed 1,006 buyers in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia, found that three-quarters […]

The post Frequent online B2B buyers want a better purchasing experience appeared first on Digital Commerce 360.

]]>
A recent international survey of 1,006 B2B buyers found that 74% of them regularly use online commerce platforms to purchase products. However, 31% said technical issues kept them from completing an online purchase.

The way B2B buyers shop is changing, and B2B merchants need to adapt.
Lance Owide, general manager of B2B
BigCommerce

The Global B2B Buyer Behavior Report, which surveyed 1,006 buyers in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia, found that three-quarters of them purchased online but cited concerns about accurate pricing, web page load times and customer support, among other issues. The survey was conducted for ecommerce technology vendor BigCommerce in May by the Price Intelligently data research unit of Paddle, an online payments technology provider.

“The No. 1 reason B2B buyers abandoned their carts was because of technical issues faced at checkout,” the report says. Survey respondents said their main concern about checkout was viewing online displays of complete and accurate pricing.

Global B2B Buyer Behavior Report findings

The report asserts that B2B and retail ecommerce activity is blending among many buyers. This results in more B2B buyers expecting the ease of online shopping they’ve become accustomed to on online retail sites and marketplaces.

The report provides survey results separately for buyers in the U.S., the U.K. and Australia. Some of the report’s notable findings include that, compared with U.K. and Australian B2B buyers, U.S. buyers rely more on online marketplaces to find products. Another notable finding is that 42% of all survey respondents say they still rely on printed paper catalogs to discover products. In addition, the report notes that the B2B purchasing and checkout processes are complicated, requiring B2B ecommerce sites to provide the online shopping and checkout experiences B2B buyers require.

“The way B2B buyers shop is changing, and B2B merchants need to adapt,” Lance Owide, general manager of B2B at BigCommerce, says in a statement about the report. “Buyers are turning to online channels to research, compare and purchase products.”

Following are the survey results for the percentages of U.S. buyers regarding how they discover products, their expected shopping experience, and the checkout process. (Percentages refer to the percentage of respondents.)

How U.S. B2B buyers discover products:

  • 66% — Internet search.
  • 58% — Online marketplaces.
  • 42% — Product catalog (printed paper).
  • 42% — Industry association.
  • 35% — Online ads.
  • 33% — Referrals.
  • 29% — Industry publications.
  • 24% — Physical ads.
  • 23% — Social media ads.
  • 23% — Trade shows.
  • 14% — TV ads.

The purchasing channels U.S. B2B buyers use:

  • 75% — Supplier website.
  • 65% — B2B marketplace.
  • 53% — In-store/at vendor’s warehouse
  • 44% — Sales representative.
  • 28% — Social media channels.

The top causes of abandoned carts for U.S. B2B buyers:

  • 31% — Technical issues like inaccurate pricing.
  • 23% — Lack of secure checkout.
  • 17% — Shipping and delivery.
  • 15% — Complicated checkout process.
  • 8% — Lack of payment options.
  • 6% — Lack of payment term options.

U.S. B2B buyers’ most-used payment methods:

  • 80% — Credit card.
  • 49% — Debit card.
  • 39% — ACH/direct entry/direct debit.
  • 32% — Third-party payment apps.
  • 31% — Digital wallets.
  • 28% — Purchase order invoicing.
  • 21% — Electronic check.
  • 18% — Physical check.
  • 14% — Terms through third-party service.
  • 10% — Cryptocurrency.

Top reasons that motivate U.S. B2B buyers to purchase online:

  1. Customer ratings and reviews.
  2. Promotions and marketing.
  3. Peer recommendations.
  4. Industry publications.
  5. Competitors’ usage.
  6. Trade events.

Top reasons U.S. B2B buyers purchase online:

  1. Compare products and prices across competing vendors.
  2. Customize orders; select products and quantities.
  3. Save my purchase history; reorder; track orders.
  4. Purchase anytime, anywhere.
  5. Easier to know my total cost.
  6. See live inventory availability and out-of-stock items.
  7. Receive customized product suggestions based on search/purchase history.

Top pain points U.S. B2B buyers experience online:

  1. Inaccurate pricing and shipping options.
  2. Slow website load times.
  3. Difficult to contact customer support.
  4. Complicated checkout.
  5. Poor search and navigation.
  6. No real-time inventory information.
  7. Data privacy concerns.
  8. Lack of payment options.
  9. Limited flexibility of pricing/discounting.

Sign up

Paul Demery is a Digital Commerce 360 contributing editor covering B2B digital commerce technology and strategy. paul@digitalcommerce360.com.

Sign up for a complimentary subscription to Digital Commerce 360 B2B News, published 4x/week. It covers technology and business trends in the growing B2B ecommerce industry. Follow us on LinkedIn and be the first to know when we publish Digital Commerce 360 B2B News content.

Favorite

The post Frequent online B2B buyers want a better purchasing experience appeared first on Digital Commerce 360.

]]>
Amazon, Shopify strike deal that gives access to Amazon logistics network https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/2023/08/31/amazon-shopify-deal/ Thu, 31 Aug 2023 18:50:26 +0000 https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/?p=1308560 Amazon.com Inc. and Shopify Inc. have struck a deal to allow merchants who pay for Shopify’s ecommerce tools to use Amazon’s logistics network. The two companies both sell ecommerce software and services to brands and merchants. They said Amazon’s “Buy with Prime” will soon be among the tools available to Shopify’s merchants in the U.S. […]

The post Amazon, Shopify strike deal that gives access to Amazon logistics network appeared first on Digital Commerce 360.

]]>
Amazon.com Inc. and Shopify Inc. have struck a deal to allow merchants who pay for Shopify’s ecommerce tools to use Amazon’s logistics network.

The two companies both sell ecommerce software and services to brands and merchants. They said Amazon’s “Buy with Prime” will soon be among the tools available to Shopify’s merchants in the U.S. The program started Aug. 30 for invited Shopify sellers. It will roll out to all Shopify merchants who want to use Amazon’s logistics network by the end of September, Amazon said in a statement.

Amazon is No. 1 in the Top 1000, Digital Commerce 360’s ranking of the largest North American online retailers. Amazon is also No. 3 in Digital Commerce 360’s Global Online Marketplaces Database, which ranks the 100 largest such marketplaces by 2023 third-party GMV. The latest analysis of the industry as a whole is published within the 2023 Global Online Marketplaces Report.

Context behind the Amazon Shopify deal

Amazon launched Buy with Prime last year, a move widely seen as an effort to blunt the momentum of Shopify. The Canada-based company grew rapidly in recent years by building ecommerce tools that promised to help brands sell goods from their own websites, rather than on a marketplace like Amazon or eBay.

Amazon, the largest U.S. online retailer, commands a gigantic customer base. But it has drawn complaints from some of its sellers for dictating terms and being slow to respond to their concerns.

Buy with Prime enables merchants who use Amazon’s payment and fulfillment services to include Amazon’s checkout service and speedy shipping guarantees on items sold from their own sites. Amazon says the integration makes shoppers more likely to make purchases from unfamiliar brands or websites because they trust the experience with Amazon.

Under the Amazon Shopify deal announced Aug. 30, Shopify Payments will process the payments through the company’s checkout service. Previously, Shopify had warned merchants who used Buy with Prime that the integration violated Shopify’s terms of service. Shopify prevented it from protecting against fraud, according to Marketplace Pulse, which tracks online sellers.

Do you rank in our databases? 

Submit your data and we’ll see where you fit in our next ranking update.

Sign up

Stay on top of the latest developments in the ecommerce industry. Sign up for a complimentary subscription to Digital Commerce 360 Retail News. Follow us on LinkedInTwitter and Facebook. Be the first to know when Digital Commerce 360 publishes news content.

Favorite

The post Amazon, Shopify strike deal that gives access to Amazon logistics network appeared first on Digital Commerce 360.

]]>
ChemDirect upgrades its B2B marketplace with more payment options https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/2023/06/16/chemdirect-upgrades-its-b2b-marketplace-with-more-payment-options/ Fri, 16 Jun 2023 20:46:09 +0000 https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/?p=1047066 Launched as a B2B marketplace in 2018, ChemDirect set out to provide more efficient sales transactions in the chemical industry – including sourcing, price discovery, and the entire procurement process. Among its early goals were to better serve chemical buyers and deal with suppliers: handling large transaction volume and managing and tracking inventory. It addressed […]

The post ChemDirect upgrades its B2B marketplace with more payment options appeared first on Digital Commerce 360.

]]>
Launched as a B2B marketplace in 2018, ChemDirect set out to provide more efficient sales transactions in the chemical industry – including sourcing, price discovery, and the entire procurement process.

There was significant user demand for additional payment methods.
Grant Lacy, head of product
ChemDirect

Among its early goals were to better serve chemical buyers and deal with suppliers: handling large transaction volume and managing and tracking inventory. It addressed those issues by working with Adobe Inc.’s Magento ecommerce software, and the Webkul Marketplace platform, and McFadyen Digital, an agency with a specialty in marketplace technology.

Upgrading the checkout experience

ChemDirect initially used the Stripe payments platform to process payments. It also developed a process for letting customers pay via purchase orders but found this process was not scalable both for ChemDirect’s customers and its internal team.

“There was significant user demand for additional payment methods, and we knew we needed to address this,” says Grant Lacy, ChemDirect’s head of product.

“B2B checkout experience has too often been a series of screens with dozens of fields and limited payment methods,” says Thomas Gaydos, chief marketing officer of McFadyen Digital. “In B2B, the checkout process has historically been somewhat onerous for the customer.”

It pays off, giving customers more ways to pay

In addition, ChemDirect decided to also offer a more comprehensive range of financial services,  including customer invoicing and financing. In 2021, ChemDirect worked with McFadyen Digital to deploy an accounts receivable and payments system from Balance. New options for customers included the ability to choose payment terms — pay on delivery, Net 30, or Net 60.

The results of the new payments system include:

  • More than $20 million in buying power available to buyers via the ChemPay/Balance system;
  • Financing made available to more than 2,000 buyers;
  • Financing of 24% of all purchase transactions since a new checkout process launched in March 2023.

“We believe in building products with B2B functionality and a business-to-consumer experience,” Lacy says.

Dave Haase Thumbnail

David Haase

ChemDirect president speaks at EnvisionB2B

At the EnvisionB2B Conference and Exhibition next week, ChemDirect president and chief operating officer David Haase will speak on the June 21 panel, “Keys to Success on B2B Marketplaces.”

That panel will be moderated by Tom McFadyen, CEO of McFadyen Digital, who will also lead a 2-hour workshop on June 20, “B2B Marketplace Master Class: How to Build Scale with Multi-Vendor Ecommerce.”

Sign up for a complimentary subscription to Digital Commerce 360 B2B News, published 4x/week, covering technology and business trends in the growing B2B ecommerce industry. Contact editor Paul Demery at paul@digitalcommerce360.com and follow him on Twitter @pdemery.

Follow us on LinkedIn and be the first to know when new Digital Commerce 360 B2B News content is published.

Favorite

The post ChemDirect upgrades its B2B marketplace with more payment options appeared first on Digital Commerce 360.

]]>
Amazon Pay adds Affirm buy-now-pay-later service https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/2023/06/07/amazon-pay-adds-affirm-buy-now-pay-later-service/ Wed, 07 Jun 2023 16:51:23 +0000 https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/?p=1046163 Amazon.com Inc. will allow eligible U.S. retailers using the online retail giant’s Amazon Pay service to offer Affirm Holdings Inc.’s buy now, pay later product under a new agreement between the two companies. The service, known as Adaptive Checkout, offers biweekly and monthly payment options for purchases of more than $50 with annual percentage rates […]

The post Amazon Pay adds Affirm buy-now-pay-later service appeared first on Digital Commerce 360.

]]>
Amazon.com Inc. will allow eligible U.S. retailers using the online retail giant’s Amazon Pay service to offer Affirm Holdings Inc.’s buy now, pay later product under a new agreement between the two companies.

The service, known as Adaptive Checkout, offers biweekly and monthly payment options for purchases of more than $50 with annual percentage rates starting at zero, according to a June 7 statement. Millions of customers using Amazon.com and the Amazon mobile app already have access to the pay-over-time service, the companies said. Amazon Pay is the retailer’s payment service available to consumers on other ecommerce websites. Shoppers can use their Amazon accounts, with payment and shipping information, to shop on other websites.

More retailers are adding buy-now-pay-later services every year, and as of June 2023, 54.4% of Digital Commerce 360’s ranking of the Top 1000 online retailers offer some version of this payment type. That’s up from 45.8% of Top 1000 retailers in 2022 and 28.2% in 2020. Amazon first added Affirm in 2021. For comparison, BNPL is more common among retailers who also offer Amazon Pay, at 68.2%.


17.3% of retailers in the Top 1000 offer Amazon Pay.

The buy-now-pay-later option can increase sales and customer loyalty, and attract new customers, San Francisco-based Affirm said. The mattress-and-bedding company Casper and water-filter supplier USA Berkey Filters have already integrated Affirm’s offering within their use of Amazon Pay, according to the statement.

“Customers want more choice and flexibility when paying online,” Affirm president Libor Michalek said in the statement.

Amazon is No. 1 in the Top 1000. The database ranks North American web merchants by sales. Amazon is also No. 3 in the Digital Commerce 360 Online Marketplaces database, which ranks the 100 largest global marketplaces.

Do you rank in our database?

Submit your data with this quick survey and we’ll see where you fit in our next ranking update.

Sign up

Stay on top of the latest developments in the ecommerce industry. Sign up for a complimentary subscription to Digital Commerce 360 Retail News.

Follow us on LinkedInTwitter and Facebook. Be the first to know when Digital Commerce 360 publishes news content.

Favorite

The post Amazon Pay adds Affirm buy-now-pay-later service appeared first on Digital Commerce 360.

]]>
The FTC’s proposed ‘click to cancel’ rule could impact ecommerce subscription businesses https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/2023/05/19/ftc-click-to-cancel-ecommerce-subscriptions/ Fri, 19 May 2023 16:14:43 +0000 https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/?p=1044834 The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) proposed new rule could make canceling subscriptions much easier for consumers.  The “click to cancel” rule would require companies to offer an easy way to cancel subscriptions and recurring memberships. Cancellation would have to be as easy as signing up. For example, the ruling would ban requiring consumers to call […]

The post The FTC’s proposed ‘click to cancel’ rule could impact ecommerce subscription businesses appeared first on Digital Commerce 360.

]]>
The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) proposed new rule could make canceling subscriptions much easier for consumers. 

The “click to cancel” rule would require companies to offer an easy way to cancel subscriptions and recurring memberships. Cancellation would have to be as easy as signing up. For example, the ruling would ban requiring consumers to call to cancel subscriptions that they’d signed up for online. 

The FTC’s proposed rule would apply to any retailers that sell products or services with subscriptions, automatic renewals, or similar systems. Retailers would also be required to give more information about subscription beginning and end dates and how to cancel. Retailers would also need to send annual reminders to customers for subscriptions that don’t involve physical goods.

“Some businesses too often trick consumers into paying for subscriptions they no longer want or didn’t sign up for in the first place,” FTC chair Lina Khan said in a statement. “The proposal would save consumers time and money, and businesses that continued to use subscription tricks and traps would be subject to stiff penalties.”

Subscriptions are a small but important piece of ecommerce

Subscriptions have long been promising territory for ecommerce retailers hoping to build a returning customer base. The global subscription box market reached $26.9 billion in 2022, according to Expert Market Research. The firm expects the subscription box market to reach $74.2 billion by 2028.

5.6% of retailers in the Top 1000 retailers in North America used a subscription model in 2022, according to Digital Commerce 360 data. That’s down slightly from 6.5% in 2021. 

Subscriptions are more significant in certain sectors. 36.1% of food and beverage retailers in the Top 1000 had a subscription model in 2022. That’s up from 27.8% in the previous year. In the Top 1000, 28% of health and beauty retailers had subscriptions in 2022, and 10.1% of specialty retailers. Pet supply company Chewy, for example, heavily relies on recurring subscription orders. Autoship orders made up 73% of sales in the most recent fiscal quarter, accounting for $1.98 billion of revenue. Chewy ranks No. 13 in the Top 1000.

The legality surrounding automatic renewals is murky

The legality of automatic subscription renewals can be difficult to navigate, according to lawyer Robert Freund, who focuses on ecommerce.

Subscriptions and cancellations are governed by many laws across the U.S. The 2010 Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act (ROSCA) requires retailers to provide “simple mechanisms for a consumer to stop recurring charges.” In 2021, The Federal Trade Commission issued a statement warning companies about employing “illegal dark patterns” to keep customers from canceling memberships.

Because the federal law is somewhat vague, many states have adopted their own, stricter laws. The combination of federal laws, FTC enforcement, and differing state laws result in a “patchwork of laws across the country” that are sometimes inconsistent, Freund says. “If you want to comply with every law in every state, it’s very difficult if not technically impossible.”

Automatic renewals can lead to “friendly fraud”

Retailers open themselves to friendly fraud when they automatically renew subscriptions or make them difficult to cancel, according to Chargebacks911. Chargebacks911 is a risk management software provider that helps retailers in billing disputes. 

“While no retailer wants to see their customers cancel services, having a tedious cancellation process could push customers to file a chargeback, or file a complaint with entities like the FTC — even if the retailer is fully compliant and following all payment processing guidelines that govern their merchant account,” Chargebacks911 CEO Monica Eaton told Digital Commerce 360.

Customers who forget to cancel a free trial or don’t recognize a recurring subscription charge on their bank statement can file a dispute with their bank. Retailers may then have to pay additional chargeback fees, or pay to fight the charges. Too many chargeback requests can lead to a retailer losing processing capabilities, Eaton says. 

Do you rank in our database?

Submit your data with this quick survey and we’ll see where you fit in our next ranking update.

Sign up

Stay on top of the latest developments in the ecommerce industry. Sign up for a complimentary subscription to Digital Commerce 360 Retail News.

Follow us on LinkedInTwitter and Facebook. Be the first to know when Digital Commerce 360 publishes news content.

Favorite

The post The FTC’s proposed ‘click to cancel’ rule could impact ecommerce subscription businesses appeared first on Digital Commerce 360.

]]>
Strategy Insights: The Perfect Purchase Experience https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/industry-resource/strategy-insights-buying-experience/ Fri, 05 May 2023 16:38:36 +0000 https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/?post_type=whitepaper&p=1044106 Shoppers vs. Buyers Retailers need to pay special care to the factors that separate shoppers from buyers. How many fields are shoppers required to fill out? How many pages are in the checkout experience? Which payment options are offered? And if returning customers can save their information, what fraud prevention measures are in place? 81% […]

The post Strategy Insights: The Perfect Purchase Experience appeared first on Digital Commerce 360.

]]>

Shoppers vs. Buyers

Retailers need to pay special care to the factors that separate shoppers from buyers.

How many fields are shoppers required to fill out? How many pages are in the checkout experience? Which payment options are offered? And if returning customers can save their information, what fraud prevention measures are in place?

81% of retailers say investing in the online shopping cart is important to improving conversion rate, according to a Digital Commerce 360 survey of 75 online retailers in February 2023.

With that, retailers should pay close attention to what types of payment methods shoppers want to pay for goods. Because if the right option isn’t there, they will abandon their carts.

The Buying Experience is Important

Digital Commerce 360’s May Strategy Insights Report dives into three aspects of the checkout experience and includes the following in-depth articles from Digital Commerce 360 editors:

  • Is offering cryptocurrency at checkout worth the reward for retailers?” details why and how two online retailers accept cryptocurrency as payment — and why the risky and volatile nature of the payment method is worth it for them.
  • Will AI power all of fraud management?” explores how retailers balance using artificial intelligence and manual review for fraud prevention and if retailers should eliminate human review teams in favor of only AI to combat fraud in the future.
  • In “BNPL is a low-risk option for attracting new customers,” three large merchants talk about the growth of buy now, pay later and the benefits of having the payment method. The article also addresses the growing concerns about the mounting debt this type of payment may foster.
  • Plus, a chart details the popular payment methods from the 2023 Top 1000 online retailers, and how that compares to a few years ago.

Compliments of: Bloomreach, Melissa

DC360_StrategyInsights_May_2023_TOC

The post Strategy Insights: The Perfect Purchase Experience appeared first on Digital Commerce 360.

]]>