Shopify is one of the largest eCommerce platforms in the world. Shopify offers an easy, hassle-free way for any retailer to open an online store.
With hundreds of ready-to-go templates, integrated SSL security, and a low monthly fee, it’s no wonder why there are millions of Shopify stores on the web.
Shopify’s latest feature, Shop Pay, streamlines the ordering process by saving customer’s name, card data, and shipping information. This allows customers to place their orders quicker and results in fewer abandoned carts for sellers.
Below, I’ll give you a full breakdown of how the Shop Pay Shopify feature works and explain why it’s such a helpful tool for sellers and shoppers alike.
What Is The Shop Pay Shopify Feature?
The main area of competition for eCommerce platforms is ease of checkout. The easier a platform makes it for customers to check out, the more money online sellers make, and the more incentivized they are to use the platform.
Many online sellers utilize more than one eCommerce platform to sell their wares.
For example, I have a friend who’s a fashion designer and sells her repurposed clothing items on Etsy, Amazon, and a personalized Shopify store. Of the three platforms, she claims Amazon and Shopify account for a combined 75% of her total sales.
Amazon’s one-click buying feature was revolutionary, as it drastically reduced the time that online shoppers spent filling out address forms and entering credit card information.
For a while, this allowed the giant to dominate the eCommerce sector.
- Read More: How to start selling on Amazon in Canada
It wasn’t long before other eCommerce platforms caught on, though, and began implementing features to increase checkout speed and security.
In similar fashion to Amazon’s one-click ordering, the Shop Pay Shopify feature allows customers to checkout with the click of a button.
Shop Pay is:
- Safe, secure, & encrypted
- Fast
- Completely optional (for customers & sellers)
- Free to use
When customers opt-in for Shop Pay, the feature saves all of their card information, full name, and address.
Once it’s time to checkout, they just click ‘Pay With Shop Pay,’ to verify and complete their order. The customer never needs to waste time typing in their information by hand.
Shop Pay Shopify Feature: Benefits For Customers
If you’re an online shopper who’s never used Shop Pay or other forms of expedited checkout features before, then you may be wondering exactly how this benefits you.
Is it really that much easier than entering your card information the old-fashioned way?
Here’s how Shopify Shop Pay can benefit customers.
Faster Checkout Time (Less Form-Filling)
If you rarely shop online, then this may not be a big issue. However, if you frequently shop online or order gifts online from Shopify stores, then Shop Pay can save you a lot of time.
Entering all of my credit card and address information by hand takes me around one minute on my computer and two minutes on my phone (typing with my thumb).
However, when I use Shop Pay to make a purchase, it takes me less than ten seconds to complete my purchase.
When the holidays come around and I start shopping online and buying gifts for my family and friends, Shop Pay really saves me a lot of headaches and copy/pasting my address.
It also eliminates any mistakes that I may make when I’m rushing things. I can’t count how many times in the past that I’ve mistyped a number in my card or address, which results in my whole order being delayed or canceled.
Since Shop Pay automatically enters your pre-saved information, you never have to second-guess whether it’s correct.
Safer Checkout
These days, scammers and data thieves are everywhere. Whenever I pull my credit card out of my wallet in public, I often feel like I need to look over my shoulder to make sure there aren’t any prying eyes.
Since Shop Pay saves your credit card information, you don’t have to worry about compromising your card’s security when you’re in public.
Once you click ‘Pay With Shop Pay,’ your information is automatically entered into the form and encrypted so nobody around you can see your card data.
This can also be useful if you’re shopping online with a private network or you suspect that your computer has a key-logger virus.
Using Shop Pay doesn’t require you to key-in any information, which means that third-party data thieves and hackers can’t access your online traffic to steal your card information.
Shop Pay Shopify Feature: Benefits For Sellers
Shopify shoppers mostly benefit from the increased checkout speed and safety provided by Shop Pay. However, I’d argue that the feature’s real value lies in what it provides sellers. Some of the key benefits of Shop Pay for sellers include:
- It streamlines the order process
- Reduces abandoned carts
- Allows sellers to offer buy now, pay later
- Provides easy order verification to prevent fraud
- Lowers seller card transaction fees
It’s also incredibly easy to implement into your online store, so there’s really no reason why you shouldn’t give it a shot. Here’s a brief run down on Shop Pay’s key features for Shopify sellers.
Streamlines The Order Process (Fewer Abandoned Carts)
These days, the online store or platform that offers the quickest checkout is going to get the most business.
Think about it this way – have you ever walked out of a store because you saw how long the checkout line was?
Put yourself in your customers’ shoes for a minute…
Your customer is likely scrolling through their phone or browsing the web on their computer. They probably have several other tabs and apps open at the same time and are being bombarded by distractions from every angle.
A small hiccup or interruption in the checkout process is all it takes for them to click off the page, open up the message they just received, and forget all about the order they were completing.
By the time they remember their order (if they remember) they’ll have had plenty of time to reconsider their “impulse buy” and cancel the order.
In eCommerce, this is commonly referred to as an abandoned cart.
According to data published by the Baymard Institute, a whopping 69.99% of all online shopping carts are left abandoned by would-be customers.
By streamlining the order process and making it faster for customers, sellers can reduce the number of abandoned carts and increase their store’s revenue.
Using the analogy above, it’s the equivalent of the overcrowded store opening all of its checkout lines at once.
Activate Buy Now, Pay Later Through Affirm
Buy now, pay later (BNPL) programs have become very popular over the past few years.
Recent data from Bankrate shows that around 60% of respondents claimed to have used a BNPL program for a purchase.
These programs allow customers to split the cost of an item into several, affordable weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly payments. Most only require customers to make a 25% down payment, and allow them to finance the remaining 75%.
BNPL is a great tool for businesses, as it makes it easier for your customers to buy expensive products from you. A $100 jacket doesn’t seem so pricey when you only have to put $25 down on it.
Once you activate Shop Pay (see instructions below), your Shopify store’s customers will have the option to buy now, pay later with Affirm.
Order Verification
As a safety precaution, Shop Pay requires customers to verify their online orders by responding to a text message.
This two-step verification process reduces fraudulent claims by shady buyers who want to get refunded for an item that they “never ordered.”
By linking the purchase directly to the customer’s phone number, there’s undeniable proof that they did, in fact, buy from you.
Lower Transaction Fees
Shopify supports integration with a number of third-party payment processors. However, when customers use Shop Pay to pay for their order, sellers will pay a lower transaction fee compared to third-party payment processors.
How To Enable Shop Pay
Are you interested in trying Shop Pay for your Shopify store? Here’s how to enable Shop pay and streamline your customers’ online shopping experience. It only takes a few minutes to set up!
Step 1: Access Your Shopify Dashboard & Settings
First, access your Shopify dashboard. Then look towards the bottom left-hand of the screen for a gear icon followed by Settings. Click here to access the sub-menu for all of your settings.
Step 2: Click The ‘Payment Providers’ Tab
Looking through the sub-list of settings, click the Payment Providers box, which should be located in the upper left-hand corner of the menu options. This will allow you to make changes regarding how your store accepts payments.
Step 3: Enable Shop Pay & Save Changes
Finally, click Enable Shop Pay and then click the Save button to implement the new changes. Now, all of your customers should have the option to checkout using their saved Shop Pay data.
Is Shop Pay Safe?
Shop Pay is not only incredibly fast but it’s also very safe. All of the personal data and payment information that Shop Pay users save, is heavily encrypted and secured on Shop Pay’s servers.
When paying with Shop Pay, all of the data being transferred is also encrypted into the Shopify store.
Customers don’t have to take their card out of their wallet or log keystrokes while entering their personal information.
Shop Pay vs. Shopify Pay: What’s The Difference?
Shop Pay and Shopify Pay are sometimes confused by Shopify shoppers and sellers. While they may share a similar name, the two are very different.
Shop Pay is a separate feature that allows shoppers to expedite the checkout process and access buy now, pay later options. Shopify Pay is Shopify’s built-in payment processor that handles traditional card payments.
Top Online Stores That Use Shopify & Shop Pay
Shop Pay is used by some of the world’s top Shopify stores, including:
- Fashion Nova
- GymShark
- G-Fuel
- Steve Madden
- Kylie Cosmetics
- … and more
Conclusion – Should You Use Shop Pay With Your Shopify Store?
If you have an online store with Shopify, I highly recommend enabling the Shop Pay payment option.
By streamlining your customers’ checkout process, you’ll have fewer abandoned carts, and you’ll also be able to offer BNPL to your customers, which can increase your overall order size.
Enabling Shop Pay doesn’t cost any money and can be set up in less than 30 seconds. So, why not give it a try?
To learn more about eCommerce and earning a full-time living online, be sure to keep reading and check out my complete guide on how to make money on Amazon next!
