PayPal has been going through a lot of changes recently, particularly since its split from eBay. What does the future have in store for the eCommerce giant? It would seem as though PayPal have a few ideas of their own in answer to this question. So; what expectations does PayPal have for the futures of digital payments?
PayPal has recently announced that customers will now have the ability to pay using their single touch payment option, even if they do not have PayPal downloaded on their phone. What’s more, thanks to their partnership with Bigcommerce, a PayPal One Touch button is due to be set as a checkout button. This will allow users to bypass the normal checkout process of applying loads of personal information about themselves, instead being able to click a single button which can be used both for web and mobile apps. This means that even if you don’t have the PayPal app downloaded but you want to pay for something on a Braintree-supported app, then you will be able to do so.
Obviously things are going pretty well for PayPal, who currently process around $4.3 billion every year. They have a huge online following, which covers retail stores and specialised websites such as bingo and casino sites. You can always find plenty of casino sites that accept PayPal like here. However, they want to increase their revenue even further by breaking out even more into the retail market. As some may be aware, in 2012 they launched PayPal Here, a way of allowing real life retail stores to accept and process payments using PayPal in store. Plus, in November of 2014, eBay created an interactive mirror alongside Rebecca Minkoff, the clothing retailer, which enables customers to check out from the changing room.
However, with the takeover of Venmo by PayPal is likely to be the main factor in taking their custom into physical stores. Mike Vaughn, the general manager of Venmo, has been quoted saying that Venmo is offering the opportunity to allow PayPal and Braintree to access the in store retail consumer market – particularly as the app already has the One Touch button added to its iOS an Android apps. The app could allow consumers to pay for their items in retail stores using their phone. This move will be very helpful for PayPal, as it is probable that mobile users currently prefer to use Venmo for paying for things in retail stores using their phone, so they are able to pick up the profits from two markets.
There is also to be an additional focus on millennials. The acquisition of Venmo demonstrates this, as Venmo has been found to be particularly popular amongst millennials. Reaching out to this market is a smart move from PayPal as they aim to have all of their bases covered. Whilst at present PayPal will not admit how many people use Venmo, the app took in a payment volume of $2.4bn last year.
However, it is not PayPal’s intention to carry on with two retail apps. More likely they will test the waters to see which app does better, and the one which picks up the biggest user base will be the one to stay.
PayPal is going up against some formidable competition in their quest for both the retail and online markets. They are trying to grab custom from companies such as Square, Apple Pay and Stripe. PayPal may be big at 162 registered users; however, this is nothing compared to Apple’s 800 million. However, Venmo could be what enables PayPal to pick up a younger market as they move into the future.
Overall, PayPal has some big challenges ahead of it. However, if they are able to put the work in, they could become an even bigger player in the eCommerce industry. Only time will tell.
