Thursday, September 9, 2010

Amazon Payments Streamlines Checkout

Seattle-based Amazon Payments, the online payment unit of Amazon.com, said this morning that it has rolled out a new version of its Checkout by Amazon product, which does not require consumers to leave a merchant's web site to check out. Amazon Payments said the new version allows users to purchase from a merchant's site using their Amazon.com site, without leaving a merchant's site. The change is a significant upgrade to the firm's prior method, which required a user to leave a merchant's web site, log into their Amazon.com account, and complete their purchase via Amazon's web site. Amazon said the move will reduce the potential for shopping cart abandonment, and also mean fewer steps for checkout. Amazon also said the move will provide a substantial reduction in implementation time in the feature. Amazon Payments' prior method resulted in users ending up somewhere on Amazon.com's site after checkout, rather than back at the original e-commerce retailer.