PayPal’s technology is the market leader, but should you check out Google’s new shopping method when doing other business online? Both services are secure, but PayPal offers more features, and has a greater world-wide presence. But how long will that last? Its entirely possible that Google can close the gap quicker than anyone expects…Google Checkout is designed to streamline online shopping for consumers by letting them shop with a single login name and a familiar interface. This lets them grab goods found through Google searches or online stores without having to type their credit card number and address repeatedly. Not that special, but fair enough - the convenience draw is apparent. Like regular PayPal accounts, there are no fees for shopping with Google Checkout, and transactions are encrypted with the same SSL methods used by banks.
If you’re an online seller, however, Checkout provides some added bonuses that make webmasters’ eyes twinkle - you get the simple account sign-up for small and large merchants that you get with PayPal, but with the added bonus that Checkout shares details about how customers respond to your Google AdWords campaigns - a fantastic feature to have if you are considering using, or already use, Google Analytics (one of my all-time favorite Google Products) to track traffic and monitor your marketing campaigns. The unrivaled popularity of Google’s FREE analytics linked with ever popular AdWords AND easy-to-set-up checkout software begs the question “How Long Can PayPal hold 800lb Google at bay?”

What’s really important to realize here is that for a platform like PayPal or Checkout to truly dominate, the sellers have to be as quick to adopt it as consumers. The adoption curve is a result of the push and pull between those two groups — consumers dont want to sign up for payment systems that sellers dont support and, conversely, sellers dont want to spend time and money implementing systems that customers dont use. The VISA tag-line is the perfect example - it’s “everywhere you want to be” - that’s the whole issue. What’s uncertain right now is where the tipping point lies. At what point does the adoption of a system like PayPal or Checkout reach critical mass such that a seller or a consumer is HINDERED by their lack of adoption?

The one major area PayPal is faltering in is with online sellers - especially BIG sellers - to try and build their network, they’re offering all existing PayPal users a referral bonus of up to $1000 per merchant that they get to sign up with PayPal. For a consumer that’s good news, if I can convince a merchant that it’s worth the cost and the programming to make it available to their customers. Of course, it’s easier said than done in PayPal’s case - the argument can easily go either way. But in the case of implementing Google’s Checkout the argument that tips the scale for a seller is a heck of a lot easier to make. And this is how the race to the top might get won.

One thing is clear - For those merchants spending a significant portion of their budget on AdWords campaigns, the added benefits of implementing Checkout are undisputable. Not only do sellers get access to Google’s ever growing sea of search-happy conusmers, but they get the added bonus of valuable insights into what brings those consumers to them, how they behave when they’re on a sellers site and how they should spend their money to bring them in. So will having access to an integrated suite of Google informatics tip the scales in favor of Checkout? We’ll see…

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