Google Checkout Doubles Adoption, But PayPal Sees Largest Increase at 217% Since February, Study Shows

    /24-7PressRelease/ - CLEVELAND, OH, January 17, 2008 - A study completed by Brulant, one of the nation's leading interactive marketing firms, shows that 30% of 100 leading online retailers currently offer alternative payment methods (APM) — a 25% increase since February 2007. Of those, Bill Me Later saw the highest adoption at 21%, with PayPal closely behind at 19% and Google Checkout at 10%, double the adoption it saw in February. 5% of the surveyed companies now offer all three options.

"One of the most surprising findings in our most recent evaluation is the increase in retailers offering all three alternative payment methods," says Adam Cohen, Principal with Brulant. "As recently as February of '07, none of the retailers we surveyed offered all three methods. Today we find 5% adoption of all three, and at a variety of retailers from Toys"R"Us to PetSmart and Rite Aid. This reinforces the 'customer is king' mentality, as retailers begin to offer a multitude of choices for checkout."
The results show:

• Retailers offering some form of APM: (Oct 06: 9% / Feb 07: 24% / Nov 07: 30%)
• Retailers offering all 3 methods: (Oct 06: 0% / Feb 07: 0% / Nov 07: 5%)
• Google Checkout: (Oct 06: NA / Feb 07: 5% / Nov 07: 10%)
• Bill Me Later: (Oct 06: NA / Feb 07: 17% / Nov 07: 21%)
• PayPal (Oct 06: NA / Feb 07: 6% / Nov 07: 19%)

As for PayPal's surge to challenge Bill Me Later as the most-offered APM, Cohen believes this is a matter of retailers looking to provide consumers options they trust. "Online consumers are looking for more payment options, and retailers are finding that offering more options is leading to increased conversions. For PayPal, shoppers who are concerned about credit card fraud have an option that has established a high level of trust."

Kevin Ertell, Vice President of e-business for Borders Group, Inc., is planning to offer alternative payment methods upon the launch of the new Borders.com, when it debuts in the first fiscal quarter this year. "Alternative payment options show our customers that Borders is committed to making transactions easy and efficient. We believe the value these options provide in conversion will help increase customer satisfaction and potentially drive sales," Ertell says. Borders, a client of Brulant's Retail and Consumer Products practice, expects to go live with Bill Me Later functionality when the new Borders.com is launched and plans to add other alternative payment methods over time.

About Brulant, Inc.
Brulant is one of the nation's leading interactive marketing firms infused with deep technology horsepower. Brulant is currently ranked the second largest independently-owned interactive agency in North America and the 3rd fastest growing, overall. Brulant's capabilities are wrapped around our deep industry knowledge within retail & consumer products, financial services, healthcare, hospitality, manufacturing and services. At Brulant, we understand the unique challenges and goals within these key industries and deliver solutions to help our clients create more meaningful and longer lasting customer relationships, establish a business channel that is highly profitable, and enable the growth of our clients' businesses through the online channel.

Brulant is in a unique position in the market... there are right brain firms who focus on creative results and there are left brain firms who focus on quantitative results... Brulant is a "whole-brain" firm. We are capable of delivering the most powerful technology solutions with all of the creativity and marketing focus of an interactive agency, and all of the strategy and business approach of a management consulting firm. For more information, visit us at www.brulant.com.

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