With Showcase, PayPal Walks Retailers Through Reimagined Shopping

Seeing is believing. Or at the very least, it’s easier to imagine something that doesn’t yet exist when props are involved.

That’s the beauty and brilliance of PayPal’s new pop-up shop in Manhattan, which visually walks retailers through five different shopping scenarios that rely on applications from PayPal’s to-be-born digital wallet, in hopes of dazzling them into business partners. Already, PayPal has inked a deal with a major retailer, though which that is remains undisclosed for now. 

Last week, I paraded around the shopping showcase during a media junket and felt somewhat akin to Scrooge on his journey into seeing the future. But unlike his horrifying glimpse of what’s to be, the future of shopping in the digital wallet era looks even more fun, which certainly bodes well for banks.

The PayPal Wallet, to start officially rolling out in stages next year, makes physical wallets a moot point. Like other digital wallets, PayPal will house all payment forms in the mobile device, ranging from credit cards to gift cards to loyalty points, while consumers’ payment options include: swiping a physical PayPal Card at POS, entering a mobile phone number and a 4-digit pin, or tap and pay with NFC. 

Though many of PayPal’s functionalities cross paths with other digital wallets, like those from Google and Isis, there should be more than enough room in the market for multiple digital wallets to exist and thrive. Plus, PayPal brings forth a number of intriguing features, such as payment flexibility, thanks to some of its recent acquisitions.

Though purchases made through PayPal Wallet will be tied to the default payment the consumer sets, PayPal remedies the limitation by allowing the consumer to change his funding source post transaction. Depending on the merchant’s rules, consumers can change their form of payments five to 30 days post purchase. Though the ability to avoid an overdraft fee through the feature is certainly appealing, I wonder about the payment flexibility, as it will require legwork from the consumer. In digital wallets, speed is crucial to usage, and anything that requires effort on the part of the consumer might tamp adoption rates. Plus, I imagine the functionality could complicate customer service, which is something PayPal has already struggled with. Last winter, I attended a payments conference where a few attendees were bemoaning PayPal’s customer service under eBay’s parental eyes.

Still, what I saw at the showcase was certainly impressive and proves that PayPal continues to innovative. What impressed me most from the Wallet features that I saw demo-ed allows customers to create wish and buying lists and have the app alert them to when deals on the products are running. Say you have bread and eggs on your list. The app will shoot over offers and discounts from participating retailers when they are available. Another helpful Wallet feature lets consumers receive push notifications that alert them to when their coupons or gift cards will be expiring. 

Though the digital wallet era is still some time away before becoming the norm in the U.S., the showcase truly helps visitors understand what PayPal’s commerce vision is all about. And I, for one, am a believer that the online payment provider will invade the physical POS scene with its PayPal Wallet.