Ecommerce platform BigCommerce recently announced an expanded relationship with PayPal that's going to please the platform's 300,000 sellers.
BigCommerce customers will now be able to offer shoppers consumer financing options through PayPal Credit, access business financing through PayPal Working Capital and all while gaining some insight into their shoppers with the recently launched PayPal Marketing Solutions.
BigCommerce customers will be able to implement a PayPal Credit button on their online store, which will enable merchants to show shoppers that financing is available at checkout.
This is likely to be appealing to those 300K-plus ecommerce sellers because when shoppers have more time to pay they tend to buy more, and more often. And even better, the solution could drive way higher average order values (AOVs) because merchants get paid upfront for the purchase, meaning PayPal Credit in this case would shoulder the responsibility of billing and collecting payments.That's going to be a big draw for sellers.
The expanded relationship between PayPal and BigCommerce also offers sellers access to PayPal Marketing Solution, a platform designed to provide insight into customers' buying behavior as well as the ability to add customized banners to their online store to alert shoppers to the availability of financing options.
"BigCommerce and PayPal have much in common at the core of our businesses - including providing businesses with the tools they need to succeed," said Steve Fusco, vice president and general manager of global distribution at PayPal. "Through our expanded relationship with BigCommerce, we are delivering access to innovative, fully integrated products and services that help merchants increase sales and average order value."
Financing in ecommerce has gained in popularity over the past few years because not only is it attractive to sellers but effective for merchants as well. Website Magazine is featuring a case study in its upcoming December edition on one home goods seller who used financing and experienced major improvement in conversion rate and a variety of other performance metrics (including AOV). This is not uncommon of course as the power of financing has long been advantageous to sellers and it continues to be a smart strategy for those selling on the Web today.
"When selling furniture and high-value products online, providing a variety of payment methods to give customers choice is imperative," said Abe Issa, CEO of Orlando, Florida-based online retailer DealBeds.com. "Since offering PayPal Credit, we've seen a significant increase in orders and conversion with lower cart abandonment rates."