Inside Amazon Pay – A Quick Guide for Sellers

You may have already noticed the Amazon Pay button on some websites. But what is it all about and how can sellers take advantage of it? 

The user is king in today’s market. Customers expect convenience from their shopping journeys online. And that includes payment methods. 

Contactless payment options are more common each day.  And as usual, Amazon wants to lead the trend. Here’s where Amazon Pay comes in. 

Read on to learn how Amazon Pay works and how it can help you boost your sales on Amazon. 

What Is Amazon Pay?

Amazon Pay is an end-to-end payment method. It allows users to pay for products on third-party websites. 

The highlight is that customers don’t have to create a new user account. Rather, they can use the billing data stored in their Amazon profiles.  

Users can choose any payment method filed in their Amazon account. This way, they can pay bills, make donations, or buy products from any website featuring Amazon Pay.

Here are some Amazon Pay key features: 

• Bill Planner. This feature allows users to manage and pay water, sewage, electric and gas bills. The bill planner is exclusive to Amazon mobile and Alexa. 
• Voice Command. Customers can use Amazon Alexa to pay bills, movie tickets and products, or make donations. Plus, Alexa will keep them notified on deliveries and payment dates.
• Order Tracking. Buyers can log in to Amazon Pay and track all orders and deliveries made using the service. 

The service is available on desktop and mobile devices. Every Amazon customer can use Amazon Pay automatically, wherever they see it.

Amazon claims that all Amazon Pay deals are secure and safe. Plus, users can keep track of every transaction in their Amazon accounts. 

How Does Amazon Pay for Businesses Work?

According to the Baymard Institute, 37% of customers abandon a website when prompted to create a user account. And as an Amazon seller, you do not need to create a new account to start using Amazon Pay.

Keep in mind that by including a checkout option like Amazon Pay into your selling strategy will build trust with users.

Here’s why:

• Your buyers can enjoy a better user experience by making quick and secure purchases while you increase your conversions.
• Since Amazon Pay ensures secure purchases, your buyers will be more interested in continuing to buy from your store.
• With every purchase, your customers will be backed by Amazon's A-to-Z Guarantee. Visit the Amazon Pay page for a list of products - and situations - that are NOT backed by this warranty.
• Since the Amazon Pay button will appear on different sites with only one account, the possibility of increasing your sales is almost guaranteed.
• With the Alexa integration, your shoppers will be able to make purchases or donations with just a simple command. This certainly gives you access to a broader consumer market for Alexa devices.

How to Set Up Amazon Pay

To set up Amazon Pay, you must be an Amazon seller, with a Seller Central Account. Otherwise, you can set up an account directly on the Amazon Pay website. 

Amazon Pay SDK

Sellers can use an Amazon Pay SDK to make integration easier. SDK stands for “Event Notification Service Java Software Development Kit” and allows users to speed up the process by providing the following: 

• Convenience functions
• Request header signatures
• Parsing API responses
• Log enablement. 
• Ease transactions and payments

Another great option is to use one of Amazon's partners. These are Shopify, Magento, BigCommerce, and Zuora. 

Some certified partners are WooCommerce, Hitachi Solutions, CoreCommerce and Miva. You can review the full list here. 

These service providers already offer Amazon Pay integration. Thus, they can ease up the integration process for sellers. 

Watch this video to find out more about registering for Amazon Pay.

Launch

The marketplace will verify your integration data. Once you’re approved, go to Seller Central to review and activate Amazon Pay. 

Once Amazon Pay is live, here’s how it’ll work: 

1. Customers can click on the Amazon Pay button during checkout. 
2. They are redirected to an Amazon-hosted site to sign in. 
3. Users return to your site to complete the checkout. 
4. Customers select their preferred payment option. 
5. Amazon Pay transfers the money to your seller account. 

It takes from 1 to 2 business days to complete the payment and see it in your bank account. 

Here are the types of transactions you can manage with Amazon Pay: 

• Immediate charge. As traditional as it gets. You can charge users after they place an order. 
• Deferred payment. Suited for pre-orders of backorders. You can program the payment when a specific sales event is met. 
• Split payment. Like credit options, you can divide the total payment across a set time period. It’s great for multiple shipments, or built-to-order products. 
• Recurring payment. Think of memberships or subscriptions. It’s a pay-per-use option, charged as needed by the business. 
• One-off purchase with subscription. Used when selling items with a request for refills. 
• Refund. Used for void transactions, product returns or partial fulfillments.

Check out this video to review what you need to do before launching Amazon Pay.

Multi-Channel Fulfillment 

Once Amazon Pay is in place, it’s time to take care of fulfillment. This is one of Amazon’s stronger points that sellers can use to their advantage. 

The Multi-Channel Fulfillment ( MCF) program allows sellers to access Amazon’s shipping machine. Enrolled merchants can guarantee delivery in 1, 2 or 3 to 5 business days. 

Sellers using Amazon Pay can also use MCF to improve customer experience. Here’s how to do it: 

1. Integrate MCF through your Seller Central account.  As with Amazon Pay, partner sites like Shopify, WooCommerce and BigCommerce can ease up the process. 
2. Ship and store your inventory in an Amazon warehouse. Keep track of monthly storage fees. 
3. Integrate Amazon Pay to your online store.
4. Watch as customers place their orders on your ecommerce sales channel using Amazon Pay.
5. Fulfill any order using Amazon MCF. Delivery times are 1 day (priority), 2 days (expedited), or 3-5 days (standard).

MCF is currently available in the US, Mexico, Italy, Spain, Japan, Canada, France, Germany, Australia, and the UK. 

Note that FBA sellers can use their Amazon-existing inventory to serve customers through MCF. 

PayPal vs Amazon Pay – What Sellers Need to Know

PayPal has been the go-to online payment option for years. But Amazon Pay is gaining ground among sellers. Let’s compare both solutions to find which is best suited for you. 

Price and Fees

There is no startup cost to use Amazon Pay or a standard PayPal account. However, some PayPal features do require a monthly fee. For example, Pay flow Pro charges $25 per month. 

Both services charge transaction and authorization fees.

Here’s a brief overview:

Currency Support

PayPal takes the lead here. The service is available in more than 200 countries. Plus, it supports 25 currencies. 

For its part, Amazon Pay is currently available in 18 countries. For the moment, it supports 12 major currencies around the world. 

Checkout and Payment

Customers don’t need to leave a seller’s site when checking out a sale. PayPal does require users to complete all transactions through its website. 

As for payment options, PayPal only requires a credit card to send and receive payments. Plus, the service accepts bank accounts. 

The only requisite to use Amazon Pay is to have an active Amazon account. Plus, the marketplace accepts most debit and credit card options. 

Security

Both Amazon and PayPal are trusted for their security standards. Amazon Pay is backed by Amazon’s A-to-Z Guarantee protection. Users can buy from reliable sellers, and get reimbursed for unsatisfied sales. 

PayPal is ever aware of any suspicious content. Actually, this may prove frustrating for some. Unusual behavior could lead to the locking of the account. 

Besides, high chargeback rates or customer complaints may limit your account features. PayPal can also hold payments for 3 weeks, in case of a problem with transactions. 

As you can see, each option has its benefits and setbacks. But you do not need to choose one over the other. Provide both gateways to customers to boost engagement and conversions. 

Final Thoughts

One user account and a single payment option. That is what Amazon Pay is all about. So, you can expect to see more online stores featuring this service in the future. 

Amazon Pay removes the need to create multiple shopping accounts. Plus, users can manage all payments from the Amazon hub they know and trust. 

So, Amazon Pay can help you deliver a sleeker shopping experience. This payment method will boost conversions, and increase customer delight.

About AMZ Advisers

AMZ Advisers is an eCommerce and digital marketing agency focused on the Amazon platform. We help brands and manufacturers strategize, plan, and execute growth strategies for the Amazon platform. Our team manages the full Amazon life-cycle including product research, listing optimization, inventory optimization, advertising management, competitor benchmarking, and performance reporting.