As mobile devices continue to revolutionize the way we do business, software providers are finding new ways to connect retailers with their customers.
Take online payment solutions, which are moving beyond the old PayPal model to include mobile access and to be implemented into any electronic transaction. As an online retailer, you control the customer experience – because the customer stays on your site-while the online payment provider handles the transaction details behind the scenes. Here are leading innovators worth keeping an eye on.
Google Wallet
Google Wallet employs a different approach than, say, Square. It’s not a Point-of-Sale solution so much as a digital payments platform. Online retailers who sign up with Google Wallet can allow their users to click a “Buy with Google Wallet” button, log into their Google account, and complete their online purchase. Google Wallet also supports in-store purchases, in which case a customer’s mobile device will pass a virtual prepaid credit card to the merchant for payment, and then charges the credit you have stored in your account for the amount of the purchase.
The mobile Google Wallet app is currently only available on Android devices, but iOS compatibility is in the works.
Braintree
After its success in the US, Braintree expanded its operations to Canada and Europe, supporting over 130 currencies. Pricing is straightforward: the company takes a 2.9% cut + $0.30 from every transaction. There are no monthly fees, and online transactions are typically deposited into your account within two business days. Keep in mind, this is US pricing. International pricing varies per country, and you will have to contact Braintree to get an exact quote.
Chirpify
Here’s how it works: a seller sends an image of their product to Twitter or Instagram. A user responds with a purchase request (a simple “Buy” tweet, for instance). This will then initiate an instant transaction through PayPal – nothing else is needed.
There are no setup or monthly fees. Chirpify just charges merchants a flat 5% commission.
While the company is still young, their earliest adopters have already achieved remarkable success. For instance, singer/songwriter Amanda Palmer used Chirpify to sell a shirt, generating 320 “buy” responses in 48 hours, which translated into over $6,000 in revenue – all from one tweet.
Fortumo
Fortumo does not charge any setup or monthly fees. However, their website states: “We feel that it’s only fair for us to make money when our customers are making money. Thus, Fortumo only charges a small % of each transaction” – without revealing anywhere how much that small percentage is.
Emu
Emu’s payment solution resides in the cloud and can be used both on desktop and mobile devices. Online retailers have to create an account in order to receive payments, which is done by keying in card details or sending customers a link. Once a customer has signed up with Emu, he or she won’t have to repeat this process again for any seller in the Emu network.
There is no charge to the seller for the first €1,250 in revenue, after which sellers pay a flat €6.50 per month, regardless of their transaction volume.
To learn more about the feature sets on specific retail software packages, take a look at our exclusive report on the Top 10 Ecommerce Management Software.