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Still don’t have an Apple Pay integration for your eCommerce site or app? Then you’re missing out! This simple, secure payment experience allows shoppers to purchase with credit and debit cards linked to their supported Apple devices, and it’s growing in popularity every day. The evidence in favor of Apple Pay is compelling (see the stats below)—and it’s not too late to get on board. Take a look at the benefits below, then see how easy it is to get rolling.

Apple Pay For eCommerce: What’s the big deal?

The title of this article says that phones are the new wallets, but they’re actually much more than that—phones are the heart of eCommerce. Most people are familiar with the consumer buying process, a phrase that describes customers’ actions around buying products or services, which almost always includes a healthy amount of online research. With mobile now overtaking desktops when it comes to accessing the internet, that naturally translates into this: Buying online is now a mobile-first activity.

Today, consumers are most likely to start, and finish, their buying process on a phone. For some it starts by searching for a solution to a problem. Others are prompted by an email about a current product promotion. Either way, they’re likely to go to one or more websites, do some research, and eventually make a buying decision. The ultimate convenience—and the key moment of the customer decision journey—is the ability to quickly pay using the same device they’ve been researching on—their phone. Apple Pay capitalizes on this mobile trend by enabling fast, easy, and secure checkout.

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The now 50 percent of U.S. retailers that offer Apple Pay on their websites are already experiencing the benefits, even though you may have heard that the eWallet trend in general isn’t growing as quickly as some expected. Why is that? Think about it this way: There are two different channels for making payments: digitally, through mobile apps and websites; and physically, in-store. In-store customers may be more inclined to stick with their usual payment methods, like swiping a credit or debit card, which is only logical.

With mobile now overtaking desktops when it comes to accessing the internet, that naturally translates into this: Buying online is now a mobile-first activity. Click To Tweet

But the real payoff for Apple Pay is in digital payments, where customers are looking for faster, easier ways to pay that don’t involve typing extensive card information into form fields (a well-documented obstacle to conversions). In fact, the fastest growth in digital wallets, including Apple Pay, is taking place in eCommerce/mCommerce payments, where the value of payments is expected to exceed $1 trillion by 2020. Apple Pay is key to solving those mobile payment challenges, which is why adoption will undoubtedly continue to grow—and why you’ll be missing out if you ignore Apple Pay for your eCommerce website.

The Benefits Of Apple Pay For Websites

Implementing Apple Pay isn’t just about following the crowd. There are good reasons to add it as a payment choice, for both you and your customers. You can get all the benefits listed below at no extra cost (Apple Pay transactions cost the same as traditional online credit card payments) and with minimal effort (Apple Pay website and app integration is easy!).

1. Apple Pay maximizes your sales potential.

Here’s a fact that might blow your mind: iPhone users spend almost three times as much as Android users when visiting an eCommerce site.

A recent analysis of this statement uncovered some specifics—Android users, on average, spend $11.54 per transaction, while iPhone users spend $32.94 per transaction. And it makes sense, considering iPhone users were not deterred by the device’s high purchase price to begin with. On top of that, it’s also been shown that iPhone customers convert at a higher rate than Android customers. No one can say for sure, but it’s reasonable to think that Apple Pay, which moves customers more smoothly from research to purchase than any other payment method, might have a little something to do with it.

2. Apple Pay eliminates checkout friction.

To ensure you snag all your potential customers, you need the streamlined payment experience that iPhone users expect. With Apple Pay, there’s no need for shoppers to enter shipping, billing, or payment information, so the checkout experience is simple. Customers tap “Apple Pay,” review the purchase order, and authorize it with their fingerprint. It’s easily the smoothest, fastest way to make a payment on an iPhone.

And don’t worry about creating confusion on the part of the shopper: Customers are only shown the Apple Pay button if they’re using a supported Safari browser and have a device compatible with Apple Pay.

3. Apple Pay provides better protection against data theft.

The mystery of how mobile payments work has left many people mistrustful of the technology, with 21 percent of respondents in a 2016 survey saying they were hesitant to enter payment card details into their smartphones. If you’re not doing everything you can to make customers feel comfortable purchasing via mobile, you may also be kissing a good number of sales goodbye.

Apple Pay helps solve that problem. Many experts say it’s more secure than traditional card payments. With traditional payments, shoppers don’t know how each individual business is securing the data the customer is providing, what the company’s processes are for passing that data along, or how they might be using it. But with Apple Pay, the process is the same every time:

  • Apple Pay encrypts the card data as soon as a customer adds it to their wallet. That data is then stored on a Secure Element inside the device to prevent unauthorized access.
  • Every merchant is validated before payment takes place. Every time a shopper clicks the “Buy With Apple Pay” button, Apple first verifies that you are a valid merchant who is authorized to accept Apple Pay.
  • Every transaction is assigned a unique token to further reduce risk of data theft. No credit card data is never stored or shared by Apple, you, or your payment gateway; it is only ever referenced by the encrypted token.
  • Fingerprint scanning or facial recognition is required to authorize purchases. It’s still fast and easy, but it’s another layer of security designed to protect customers against possible theft.

Checkout security has never been better, and that’s good for both you and your customers.

Want to add Apple Pay on your website and iOS app?

If you’re a BlueSnap customer already, it’s easy to get going. Visit our Developer Hub for directions on how to enable Apple Pay with your API integration. Or, go to our Help & Support section to enable Apple Pay with your BuyNow page integration.

If you’re not a BlueSnap customer and would like to take advantage of Apple Pay in connection with our All-in-One Payment Platform, get in touch—we’d love to hear from you! We’ll get you everything you need, including Apple Pay, to start optimizing sales today.

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