The payments industry is watching closely. Earlier this year the company ditched one of its digital wallet projects before it even completed beta testing. Prior to this, the button was mostly limited to desktop computers, so to add it to mobile apps means Amazon wants more people to shop while on the go.
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Amazon’s new head of external payments, Gauthier, reiterated this defense in an interview earlier this week, saying the worst label an Amazon project can carry is “trust-buster”. He mentioned that Amazon Marketplace, where many external merchants sell merchandise in direct competition to Amazon, is a testament to the company’s commitment to do good for outside merchants. We want to hear what you think! According to him, third-party merchants on Amazon already account for 46 percent of the company’s business, and none of them ever had any reason to doubt the integrity of the e-commerce site.
Online payments of course, is shaping up to be big business, and is tipped to become one of the fastest growing sectors in e-commerce.
Talking about Amazon’s online payments service, Mr. Gauthier looked to address concerns regarding how much other retailers can trust Amazon, seeing as the company is, in essence, a competitor to them. As for the financials, he said that the company’s online payments business has grown 180 percent globally this year so far over 2014, but refused to divulge the exact numbers. The launch of the feature in Germany and Japan is thought to have spurred this growth. People who place items in their online shopping cart tend to finish the purchase more often than they would otherwise, Amazon found. It also increases the number of repeat buyers. Mr. Gauthier said external business had gained momentum and shows signs of success which is expected to continue. Its launch partner GolfNow however, a tee-time booking service, is not all that well-known.
However the big question here is how many developers and retailers will actually take advantage of Amazon’s offer? The Amazon Payments will allow the third party developers to integrate “Pay with Amazon” button to their mobile apps, so that users can quickly sign in to process the payments. The payments industry has expected this move on the part of Amazon, to compete avidly with PayPal.
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Mr. Gauthier stated his unit is targeting businesses, which report at least $1 million in annual sales. “And if you think that you have a notion of how to succeed … you try again”.
