

How much does Bill Me Later charge merchants? There is a transaction fee, which Zielke did not disclose, plus up to 2% of the purchase price. This has helped many acquire customers and grow incremental sales, he notes. There are other benefits.įor instance, Bill Me Later will showcase merchants on its home page, Zielke says. “We’ve come up with studies to help merchants understand that consumers are using alternative payment options, and that it can help them with their return on investment,” Zielke says.

How are alternative payment providers getting retailers to see the value of their services? Zielke says his marketing team works with merchants to educate them on the incremental sales lift alternative payments such as Bill Me Later can bring. That includes PayPal, Bill Me Later and a private-label credit card that JTV.com set up through Bill Me Later called JTV Preferred Account. said at the eTail show last August that while its average order size was $150, customers using Bill Me Later spent on average $175 per order.Īnd jewelry seller JTV.com revealed at eTail that 15% to 30% of its customers use alternative payments. Bank Clothiers unveiled a redesigned Website this past November that now includes Bill Me Later and PayPal.Īpparel merchant The Orvis Co. This past holiday season, food and gifts merchant Harry and David featured a Bill Me Later logo as a dot-whack on the front cover of its holiday catalog, right next to a shot of one of its trademark succulent pears. Merchants are starting to get that message. The service’s average customer is a woman with children and an annual household income of more than $70,000, he says. SHEDDING A LOW-END IMAGEĮducation may be key to merchants getting over the myths and misconceptions of alternative payments, says Bill Zielke, vice president, product marketing for Bill Me Later.įor example, Zielke says one of the hurdles Bill Me Later has had to get over is convincing merchants that the service is not a downscale offering.

#Bill me later driver
Javelin’s study says security is the main driver for consumers using alternative payment methods. The growth is not just about wanting to keep their credit card balances down or defer payments. It’s the nature of the economy, she says: “People may want to defer payments for something they want to have so that they can buy the things they need.”Īccording to a study released in February by Javelin Strategy & Research, prepaid cards, gift cards and alternative payments are projected to have the highest rates of compound annual growth for e-commerce purchases through 2014. “Merchants are reaching out to different customer segments that may not have credit cards, or who have their credit cards maxed out,” says Lauren Freedman, president of E-tailing Group. Bill Me Later is also now a payment option for consumers who use PayPal.) (Bill Me Later was bought by eBay in 2008 and is a part of eBay’s PayPal unit. PayPal, the service that allows merchants to accept credit card or cash payments from consumers online, is being used by 34% of the top-100 merchants, up from 23% the year before. A credit card alternative, Bill Me Later offers consumers same-as-cash payment options if a bill is paid off in 30, 60 or 90 days. According to the 2009 fourth-quarter mystery shopping survey from e-commerce consultancy E-tailing Group, 47 of the top-100 online merchants offer deferred payment plans or Bill Me Later, up from 40 in 2008.
