PayPal Enables Singaporean Businesses To Profit From Mobile Commerce Boom

Mobile-optimizedcheckout and websites result in six-fold increase in mobile transaction value in 2011

SINGAPORE, May 17, 2012 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- PayPal today unveiled two easy-to-use mobile commerce solutions for mobile-optimized checkout and mobile shopping websites, so that businesses of all sizes in Singapore can capitalize on the exponential growth of mobile shopping from S$328 million in 2011 to S$3.1 billion in 2015 (Note 1). With over 1.4 million smartphones sold in Singapore in 2011 (Note 2) and nearly half of all online shoppers making a purchase on their mobile devices last year (Note 3), Singaporean shoppers are driving a fundamental change in the retail commerce market by choosing to shop and pay using their smartphones anytime, anywhere. Businesses need to adapt to this changing consumer shopping behaviour and PayPal offers innovative solutions to increase mobile conversion, lift mobile sales and deepen engagement with mobile shoppers.

PayPal Mobile-Optimized checkout for BestOfferBuy.com

PayPal is a global leader in mobile payments and is expected to process US$7 billion in mobile payment volume this year. In 2011, the company processed over US$4 billion in global mobile payment volume which represented a five-fold jump in mobile payments as compared to the previous year (US$750 million in 2010). PayPal currently has over 17 million global customers regularly making purchases through their mobile devices.

"Mobile commerce is one of the fastest-growing trends in the retail market today as mobile devices are changing the way consumers shop and pay every day," said Rahul Shinghal, Director, PayPal Mobile Asia Pacific. "PayPal is aggressively driving this change by streamlining the payment process in as little as two clicks on web-enabled mobile devices for millions of consumers and businesses across the world. The time is right for Singapore's retail industry to go multichannel by offering mobile-optimized checkout and mobile shopping websites to take advantage of this major change in consumer shopping behavior."

Simpler, faster mobile payment experience for all merchants that accept PayPal

Businesses need to offer consumers a streamlined mobile payment experience to truly capitalize on the booming mobile commerce trend in Singapore. According to a recent PayPal survey, nearly two-thirds of mobile shoppers in Singapore had previously stopped a mobile transaction because of the hassle of entering their financial details, such as 16-digit credit card numbers, on a small screen. However, merchants in Singapore and across the Asia Pacific region that have used PayPal's mobile-optimized checkout solutions have seen a six-fold increase in mobile transaction value in 2011. PayPal's mobile-optimized checkout solutions allow consumers to pay faster in as little as two clicks on smartphones and do not store any sensitive financial details on the mobile device.

To enable more Singaporean businesses to increase their sales through mobile devices, PayPal is announcing its "PayPal Mobile Payments Standard" solution which automatically provides all merchants that accept PayPal on their website today with a mobile payment checkout experience optimized for mobile devices, including iPhone, iPad, iPod and Android devices. PayPal detects when customers are using their mobile device for the payment process and redirects them to a mobile-optimized payment page, even if the merchant's website is not optimized for mobile devices yet. If the merchant currently has PayPal on their website, then the mobile optimized payment checkout experience is available to their customers without any additional integration work. For a new merchant, they simply integrate PayPal into their website to get all the benefits of a mobile-optimized payment checkout solution for customers making purchases on mobile devices.

Mobile optimized sites lead to higher conversion, sales and engagement with customers

While a mobile optimized payment checkout experience can help to increase mobile sales, the ultimate mobile commerce solution for businesses is to offer a website optimized for mobile devices. Businesses that do not have a mobile friendly version of their website risk losing customers who become increasingly frustrated with the poor shopping experience on their smartphones. Google data shows that 3 out of 4 Singaporean businesses do not have mobile friendly websites, but PayPal aims to fix this situation.

Today, PayPal is piloting its "Mobile Commerce in a Box" solution in Singapore to help businesses build mobile-optimized websites by converting their online stores into a mobile friendly interface - all in under an hour and at no additional cost to the merchant. The mobile-optimized site will have larger product photos, buttons, links and text to make it much easier to browse and shop on a mobile device, while still providing mobile-optimized checkout in as little as two clicks.

Businesses will benefit from lower bounce rates, increased browsing time, higher conversion rates and ultimately increased mobile sales. To use this mobile commerce solution, PayPal merchants who use ZenCart or osCommerce shopping carts can download, install and use the free PayPal Mobile Store Plugin which will convert their existing online store into a fully operational mobile optimized store.

Andy Shea from BestOfferBuy.com said, "Initial results of our mobile friendly website are very encouraging as they show that PayPal is helping drive significantly higher conversion and increased engagement with mobile shoppers. PayPal's Mobile Commerce in a Box solution was simple to use and best of all it's a free plugin for my website. It's a great offering from PayPal and helps a small business like us quickly adapt to the growing trend of more Singaporeans shopping and paying on their smartphones."

Singaporean businesses with an existing online store can register their interest for PayPal's Mobile Commerce in a Box solution at https://www.paypal-apac.com/minabox/.

Note:

1. PayPal Online and Mobile Shopping Insights 2011
2. GfK Asia 2012
3. PayPal Online and Mobile Shopping Insights 2011

About PayPal

PayPal is the faster, safer way to pay and get paid online. The service allows members to send payments without sharing financial information, with the flexibility to pay using their account balances, bank accounts (where available), debit cards and credit cards in various markets. PayPal is an eBay company and enables global e-commerce with more than 110 million active accounts in 190 markets and 25 currencies around the world. More information about the company can be found at https://www.paypal.com.sg.

PayPal is headquartered in San Jose, California and its international headquarters is located in Singapore.

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