Payment Options

Driven by consumers’ demand for greater access to information, offers and payment functionality anytime, anywhere, through any type of device, the lines between in-store commerce, e-commerce and mobile commerce are blurring. In this emerging environment of "universal commerce," the altered payments ecosystem clearly presents both challenges and opportunities for retailers. Therefore, it's absolutely crucial to prepare now for increased store traffic and sales opportunities during the holidays.

Toys"R"Us is now offering customers the ability to shop online and pay for their purchases in-store, giving them the freedom to use cash or check, as well as credit, to make the purchase. Shoppers who use the Pay In Store option have 48 hours to visit their nearest store to complete the purchase. When paying in-store, customers must bring a copy of the order confirmation email to any register or display the email on their smartphone to make their full payment.

Online retailer Amazon will no longer be Arizona's duty-free store. Amazon noted in its latest SEC filing that it's going to start collecting Arizona sales tax on purchases in the state, which currently stands at 6.6 percent. This change comes after quite a bit of complaining from state-level authorities about Amazon skirting the sales-tax in Arizona.

Apple's Passbook virtual wallet application is being upgraded to support purchases in the retailer's stores, according to reports. The app currently allows users to store digital boarding passes, event tickets and gift cards in one place. Several companies, including Starbucks, Target and American Airlines have integrated Passbook into their customer-facing operations. Later this month, Apple stores’ point-of-sale system upgrades will allow employees to process payments via Apple gift cards loaded on the app. Future developments may include a full integration of iTunes users’ associated debit and credit cards.

Although most merchants have made a concerted effort to fight e-commerce fraud, their methods are largely ineffective against fraudsters and off-putting to consumers, according to a new survey conducted jointly by card-not-present (CNP) industry news source CardNotPresent.com and e-commerce stabilizer SignatureLink. The SignatureLink SecureBuy 2012 CNP Fraud Study, conducted in August and September, polled 379 online and offline merchants of all sizes about their anti-fraud efforts.

J.C. Penney appears to have returned to a practice it once condemned: couponing. At the bottom of the latest of Chief Executive Ron Johnson's increasingly frequent emails to customers, J.C. Penney offers a "gift": a barcoded offer for $10 off customers’ next purchase of at least $10. "We can't wait for you to see the new and improved jcp," the promotion says.

Wal-Mart and American Express are teaming up on a reloadable prepaid card for shoppers. The two companies said Monday that Bluebird, a reloadable prepaid card which began during a pilot program late last year, will have no minimum balance and no monthly, annual or overdraft fees. The companies say the only fees associated with the card will be transparent and within the user's control, such as out-of-network ATM withdrawals by consumers who don't have direct deposit.

A horse is a horse, of course, of course … unless it's a model for American Apparel, in which case it's half a horse. Our friends at Photoshop Disasters spotted this equine error on American Apparel's website. The image, ostensibly advertising the retailer's line of lace apparel, features a blonde girl cradling a horse's head that seems to be leading to nowhere. (Ugh, you're going to have to return that horse back to the horse store now.)

A recent EU General Court ruling has deemed the fees a merchant is forced to pay to its acquiring bank in a transaction unacceptably high due to the interchange fees and the fact that MasterCard has unfairly inflated the service fees paid by retailers for processing payments. As a result, both MasterCard and Visa are being investigated for possible antitrust violations. Already five of the largest U.K. retailers, including Next Retail and Wal-Mart's Asda, have filed lawsuits in London against MasterCard.

Etsy is launching a wholesale marketplace, telling users it can't move forward as a one-size-fits-all platform. The move is hardly a shock. Etsy acquired Trunkt in May and appointed its founder, Dev Tandon, to head its wholesale business. Yet last Thursday's announcement of Etsy Wholesale probably came as a surprise to many Etsy users. Etsy explained that wholesale "means selling larger quantities of your goods at a discount to "members of the trade (e.g., boutique owners, buyers for major retailers like West Elm, museum gift shops, etc.)."