July 8, 2019 7 min read

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PayPal recently announced that it’s making its ecommerce platform available to online businesses of all shapes and sizes. And that’s cause for celebration: 

As Bill Ready, Paypal’s COO and EVP, said: “The PayPal Commerce Platform is designed to meet the specific needs of marketplaces, e-commerce solution providers, crowdfunding platforms and more by bringing together the most comprehensive set of technologies, tools, services and financing for businesses of all sizes around the globe.”

Related: PayPal Is About to Be a Small-Business Owner’s Best Friend

So, if you’ve been unable to use PayPal in the past for your business, say hello to this great new tool, which is joining a slew of other new tools: In fact, starting an online store in today’s business world has become easier than ever, thanks to consistent improvements in technology and accessibility.

But PayPal is worth particular attention as one of the most popular online payment options out there. It allows businesses, and new business owners, to manage their finances and accept payments wherever they may be — no matter how big or small their store is.

Still, you might be asking, aren’t there a dozen other services that function in the same manner? Yes, there are but PayPal stands above the rest for a handful of reasons showing why entrepreneurs should jump onboard this revolutionary business platform:

PayPal Is a well-trusted payment platform.

PayPal is the most used payment tool around the world, with more than 224 million users across the globe and the ability to operate with any currency. Because of its far reach, PayPal has become adept at controlling the risk of foreign trade.

The kind of trust it engenders is important: About 44 percent of consumers say they are more likely to trust and shop with a business that uses a preferred payment provider, and 54 percent of shoppers are more willing to buy from a business if it accepts PayPal. When people use the service, they know that it will detect fraudulent transactions and keep their personal information secure.

This is important considering the consumer trust crisis we so often read about: According to Salesforce Research, more than half of all customers (59 percent) surveyed said they believed their personal information was vulnerable to a security breach. So, it’s up to business developers to do everything in their power to prove that their transaction processes are safe.

This is critical for startups. These businesses are brand new, which means people have few reasons to trust them. PayPal can instantly add a sense of credibility and safety to any ecommerce site, no matter how new it is.

Back in 2010, Jukebox Print, an online printing company, made the switch to PayPal in line with customer demands. “Dealing with other payment processors, we would pay as much as 3 percent on refunded transactions,” Loredo Rucchin, the company’s founder, said in a profile of his company on PayPal’s site.

Today, Rucchin promotes the use of PayPal to other ecommerce store owners all over the world. “PayPal has done wonders to help us gain customers around the globe,” Rucchin has said. “Upwards of 90 percent of our international buyers now use PayPal for purchases.”

Additionally, a case study on Jukebox’s use of PayPal found that the company spent less time on paperwork and was able to engage and earn trust with younger customer segments.

Related: PayPal’s Job Recruiting Secret: Hackathons

It will allow you to vastly expand your reach.

Whether you’re running an online marketplace or a mobile app, you can now “Partner with PayPal” to extend your reach and grow your new business exponentially. The platform provides entrepreneurs what they need to get started, from checkout systems to credit payment plans for consumers. It’s a complete payment solution that makes running an ecommerce store infinitely more efficient.

Big names you already know, such as Intuit, Shopify and Etsy, have already partnered with PayPal to make things simpler for their domestic and international users. If your site is ready to go global, then you need a virtual checkout process that handles everything, from taxes and duties to currency conversions.

Compliance with PayPal’s requirements is relatively casy.

Payment Card Industry (PCI) security standards have requirements when it comes to protecting customers’ payment card information. Big names like Visa and Mastercard all have requirements as to how stores can transmit and store payment information, and PayPal is no different. The platform’s solution, “Payflow Link,” makes it simple for ecommerce stores to comply with regulations.

The biggest security benefit that comes from using PayPal is that customers never actually have to leave your site in order to check out. Therefore, the risk of exposing their information to other sites remains low. Additionally, PayPal stores any customer’s information securely, minimizing the risk of leaks or hacks.

It will make international expansion easier.

PayPal’s “Global Sellers Program” allows entrepreneurs to quickly expand their reach to more than 200 different countries around the world. I’ve mentioned how the platform can convert currencies and handle complicated tax information, but PayPal also takes the ease of international sales further. The service can translate product titles, convert online prices and make sure all payments are localized.

Furthermore, PayPal can actually improve your ecommerce store’s ranking with international search engines. Your chances of being found online are much higher when you’re using a globally recognized payment platform. You’ll see better traffic, increased marketing results and more trust from international shoppers.

There are lots of payment service features to use.

I’ve touched on the various features that PayPal provides to its 200 million different accounts, but there are more beneficial features:

• The ability to register credit and debit cards
• Secure account management and login process
• The use of antifraud technology
• Online invoicing
• Virtual terminals
• Mobile payments
• Domestic and international money transfers

Additionally, there is the matter of PayPal’s transaction fees. The platform usually doesn’t charge more than a dollar or so on each transaction, but other services can easily cost as much as 3 percent. Merchants have saved thousands by working with a payment processor with such a low transaction fee. This is especially helpful for new business owners just beginning to make a profit and build sales.

In summary

Just last year, more than 9.9 billion payments were made through PayPal. The platform has been making waves ever since it was introduced in 2008, but now, it’s become a staple for online and in-person stores around the globe. Advancements in the software have only made it more secure and convenient for both merchants and customers to use.

Related: 25 Payment Tools for Small Businesses, Freelancers and Startups

If you haven’t already, it’s time to jump onboard with the most trusted, flexible payment platform available to ecommerce stores. You might see other payment methods popping up with the growth of technology, but as of 2019, no other option rivals PayPal in terms of customer trust and security. That’s something to consider when you’re setting up your own payment system.