A host of retailers soon will allow customers to make in-store purchases through PayPal by using their mobile phone number or swiping their PayPal payment card.
Abercrombie & Fitch, Advance Auto Parts, Aeropostale, American Eagle Outfitters, Barnes & Noble, Foot Locker, Guitar Center, Jamba Juice, JC Penney, Jos. A. Bank Clothiers, Nine West, Office Depot, Rooms to Go, Tiger Direct and Toys R Us will join Home Depot in using PayPal payments.
"PayPal is moving its traditional online payment service into the offline world by enabling customers to pay with PayPal at the checkout counter," PayPal spokesman Anuj Nayar said. "PayPal is turning all 110 million of its active accounts into digital wallets."
Home Depot rolled out PayPal payments to almost 2,000 of its U.S. stores earlier this year through its existing cash registers.
"Retailers also benefit from digital wallets in that they are connected to their buyers through every phase of the sales cycle," Nayar said. "PayPal can help drive customers into the store, and offer new ways to pay with any connected device during the sale, and alternate payment options after a sale by paying installment payments."
PayPal expects to process $7 billion in net mobile payments this year, up from $4 billion last year.
"PayPal clearly wants to be ubiquitous and a viable alternative to credit and debit cards," said Faith Hope Consolo, chairman of the retailing group at Prudential Douglas Elliman in New York. "Anything that's convenient for the customer is a positive, and this continues a process of linking both the in-store and Internet shopping experiences, particularly for the young, tech-savvy shopper.
