Chase Jones, Marketing Manager, North America Small Business, PayPal

 

Please see this post on our new PayPal Stories site.

 

If you’re like many small businesses, your customers are probably at backyard barbeques this summer and not necessarily shopping online. You can take advantage of this time to ready your business for fall sales, as well as the upcoming holiday season. Below are some tips to help make sure you’re prepared when shoppers arrive at your virtual storefront.

 

Optimize your website for mobile

On April 21st, 2015, Google changed the way it ranks websites in searches from mobile devices. The change boiled down to one factor: how well your site is optimized for mobile viewers. If your site isn’t optimized, it could mean that you now rank lower in mobile searches.

 

Don’t assume that your desktop website works just as well for mobile viewing. Pick up your phone and see how user-friendly it is. Google Developers has a mobile-friendly test you can take.1 If needed, look for a developer or third-party platform provider (such as BigCommerce) to help you launch a mobile-responsive experience.

 

Even doing small things, like putting your phone number at the top of your Home page so that shoppers can easily click to call, can be very effective at driving mobile sales.

 

Get a head start on your holiday sales strategy

Since you’re likely to see more traffic come through your website in the few weeks leading up to the holidays than you will all year, make sure you plan your marketing efforts appropriately.

 

Do Your Homework: Review your sales from last year. What were the big sellers? Which search keywords popped? Don’t know? Make it a priority to install tracking code and capture those metrics this year. It’s relatively simple to implement, and there are many good, free trackers. Beef Up Inventory: You know better than anyone else about lead times, especially for items coming from overseas. Place your orders now, so you’re well stocked for the holiday rush. Optimize for Search (SEO): Update your keywords for better search engine optimization, adding any product or category keywords you know will be hot sellers this year. If you have the budget for it, and are reasonably certain it will pay off, also consider putting some of your marketing dollars toward paid search campaigns. Create “Quick Navigation” Paths: While you should make sure your customers can easily navigate to any of the products they want, it can be especially profitable to include navigational elements (“quick links”) on your home page, linking shoppers directly to seasonal best-sellers. Build Buzz with Social Media: Don't forget to build holiday promotions into your social media efforts. Prepare a holiday promotion to launch on your Facebook page and Twitter account, offering special coupons for people who follow your social media efforts. Not only are you rewarding good behavior, your fans will be likely to pass on promotions and discount offers to their family and friends, bringing more first-time visitors to your website.

 

Get Your Website in Shape

Just like any brick-and-mortar store, your website must be ready to shepherd a crowd of shoppers through your front door, down the aisles, and to the register. For a website, that means quickly loading pages, easy-to-navigate sales paths, and a secure, glitch-free checkout process.

                                                                           

Test Your Infrastructure: Do a round of load testing to make sure servers can handle increases in traffic and transactions. Remember, page load time impacts not only the current visit, but future visits as well—not to mention search rankings. Clean Up Your Website: Do a survey of your website to see there are no broken images or hyperlinks. Would you shop for your holiday meal in an unkempt supermarket? Have an Emergency Plan: Make sure you have close-at-hand the phone numbers of your hosting and shopping cart providers, development team, and credit card processor. Just in case.

               

Think globally this year

“It is a small word after all” has never been more relevant than it is today. By leveraging free online tools and research on global trends, even small business owners can find success selling internationally.

Do More Homework: Learn the customs, duties, taxes and regulatory requirements of your targeted sales regions, which can allow you to position your products effectively and appropriately. Plus, stay on top of the product categories and brands that are hot overseas. Keep Shipping Costs Low: 47 percent of all online shoppers say that free shipping would make them more likely to purchase fro.... Consider the tradeoff between incurring shipping costs and the lifetime value of a new customer. Don’t go it alone: Leverage free resources and experts to help. PayPal’s PassPort—which helps small businesses learn about local customs, trends and shipping tips—can help make sure you’re up to speed on the latest global trade trends.

 

Finally, take some time to enjoy the summer, as well. Since there’s no need to tell you that the holiday season will be upon you sooner than you expect, make sure you’re well rested—and your business prepared—when it arrives.

 

 

 

1Google Webmaster Central Blog, February 26, 2015. http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2015/02/finding-more-mobile-friendly-search.html. The Google Developers site is provided for informational purposes and in no way represents an endorsement or approval by PayPal Inc.

 

All trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

 

Original author: PayPal-Forward

Sid Pershad, Director of Risk Management, PayPal

At PayPal, our goal is to build trust between buyers and sellers to enable millions of transactions around the world. As part of this, we support entrepreneurs and small businesses, and allow them access to cutting edge tools. One of the benefits of using PayPal is that nearly anyone can sign-up for an account and start accepting payments in seconds. We are also one of the few payments companies to have customized our policy and processes to specifically support crowdfunding.

 

So, aligned with our commitment to help protect our customers, and make sure they are informed, we wanted to share some additional insight around our preselling policies.

 

First, as we’ve previously noted, it is important to understand the difference between crowdfunding and preselling. When you presell – you are setting a condition with your customer that they are purchasing a product or service before it is available, and there is an expectation that your customers will get something tangible for their money, even if the delivery is delayed. It is important to note: with a presale, customers are charged for a product that’s still being developed.

 

With crowdfunding, the expectation is that customers are putting money in a campaign and they face a risk of not getting what they expect. Crowdfunding is similar to an investment. There is hope it will be successful, but there is no guarantee of a product or service. Our point of view is that campaign owners are still responsible for making that clear to consumers, so they are fully informed before putting money into a crowdfunding campaign.

 

We collaborate with several crowdfunding platforms, such as Indiegogo and Fundrazer, to offer entrepreneurs the option of raising money from the public. Our policy with businesses and campaign owners on these crowdfunding platforms is that sellers get a quick release of the funds raised as long as they put a clear disclaim about the risks for buyers. But, when a seller chooses to presell merchandise independently of these platforms, PayPal takes the steps below to help protect its customers as well as itself.

 

Occasionally, businesses that presell items run into unexpected problems that leave them unable to deliver what was promised and can even put them out of business. This puts PayPal in a tough spot when something goes wrong, and one of our highest priorities is to help protect our customers while creating a positive experience. We want businesses to get paid and we want the customer to get what they ordered.

 

That’s why when a business presells merchandise more than 30 days in advance, we may hold a percentage of the seller’s funds to help ensure that buyers receive the product or service they paid for within the agreed timeline, or a get a refund if the product isn’t available. That being said, we understand that a seller may need additional funding to run its business or make a product, so we will work with sellers on a case-by-case basis to release additional funds. All a seller needs to do is contact customer service and provide proof – such as pay stubs for employees or invoices for suppliers.

 

We don’t want to get in the way of the innovative new products or services consumers want, but we want to ensure both buyers and sellers have our trust. It’s about helping to protect our customers, to ensure they get the items they ordered.

Original author: PayPal-Forward

 

Please see this post on our new PayPal Stories site.

 

Entry into $600 Billion International Money Transfer Market with Leading Technology Solution

Expands Services for PayPal’s Customers and Accelerates Time-to-Market in Key International Markets

 

SAN JOSE, Calif. & SAN FRANCISCO – JULY 1, 2015 – PayPal, Inc. and Xoom Corporation (NASDAQ:XOOM), a digital money transfer provider, today announced a definitive agreement under which PayPal will acquire Xoom for $25 per share in cash or an approximate $890 million enterprise value. The transaction represents a premium of 32% over Xoom’s three-month volume-weighted average price and was unanimously approved by the Boards of Directors of both companies, as well as the Board of eBay Inc., PayPal’s parent company.

 

Xoom is a leader in international remittances enabling customers in the United States to send money to, and pay bills for, family and friends around the world in a secure, fast and cost-effective way, using their mobile phones, tablets or computers.

 

Dan Schulman, President of PayPal, said, “Expanding into international money transfer and remittances aligns with our strategic vision to democratize the movement and management of money. Acquiring Xoom allows PayPal to offer a broader range of services to our global customer base, increase customer engagement and enter an important and growing adjacent marketplace. Xoom’s presence in 37 countries – in particular, Mexico, India, the Philippines, China and Brazil – will help us accelerate our expansion in these important markets.”

 

John Kunze, President and Chief Executive Officer of Xoom, remarked, “Becoming part of PayPal represents an exciting new chapter for Xoom, which will help accelerate our time-to-market in unserved geographies and expand the ways we can innovate for customers. Being part of a larger, global organization will help us deliver the best possible experience to our customers, while maximizing value for our shareholders.”

Expected Strategic Benefits of the Xoom Acquisition

Extends PayPal’s offering to its customers: Broadens PayPal’s consumer offering to its 68 million active U.S. customers by cross-selling Xoom’s services. Accelerates time-to-market: Xoom’s proprietary and fast “funds-out” network enables PayPal to enter this growing marketplace with a leading technology solution with strong presence in key international markets. Enables horizontal expansion into new markets: Allows Xoom to expand its portfolio of send-markets by leveraging PayPal’s wider international network. Delivers a strong technology platform: Xoom’s compelling and reliable technology platform and consumer experience are coupled with its excellent customer service.

Financial Highlights of Acquisition

Due to anticipated one-time integration costs, the completion of the transaction is expected to be slightly dilutive to PayPal’s non-GAAP earnings per share for FY 2016. PayPal intends to fund the transaction with cash on its balance sheet.

 

Upon closing of the acquisition, Xoom will operate as a separate service within PayPal. The acquisition is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2015, subject to customary closing conditions, including Xoom stockholder approval, the expiration or early termination of the applicable pre-merger waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 and the receipt of certain consents relating to Xoom’s money transmitter licenses.

 

Holders of approximately 18% of Xoom's outstanding shares, including all executive officers and directors of Xoom and certain entities affiliated with Sequoia Capital, have entered into voting and support agreements with PayPal pursuant to which they have agreed to vote in favor of the transaction.

 

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC is acting as financial adviser to PayPal, while Sidley Austin LLP is acting as its legal adviser with regard to the transaction. Qatalyst Partners is acting as financial adviser to Xoom, while Goodwin Procter LLP is acting as its legal adviser.

 

###

 

About PayPal

At PayPal, we put people at the center of everything we do. Founded in 1998, we continue to be at the forefront of the digital payments revolution, processing almost 12.5 million payments for our customers per day. PayPal gives people better ways to connect to their money and to each other, helping them send money without sharing financial information and with the flexibility to pay using their PayPal account balances, bank accounts, PayPal Credit and credit cards. With our 165 million active customer accounts, we have created an open and secure payments ecosystem people and businesses choose to securely transact with each other online, in stores and on mobile devices. PayPal is a truly global payments platform that is available to people in 203 markets, allowing customers to get paid in more than 100 currencies, withdraw funds to their bank accounts in 57 currencies and hold balances in their PayPal accounts in 26 currencies.

 

PayPal is in the process of being separated from eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY). Upon completion of the separation, which is expected to occur on July 17, 2015, PayPal will be an independent, publicly traded company listed on the NASDAQ Stock Market under the ticker “PYPL.” More information about PayPal can be found at www.paypal.com and www.paypal-corp.com. More information about the planned separation of eBay and PayPal can be found at update.ebayinc.com.

 

About Xoom

Xoom is a leading digital money transfer provider that enables consumers to send money, pay bills and send mobile reloads to family and friends around the world in a secure, fast and cost-effective way, using their mobile phone, tablet or computer. During the 12 months ended March 31, 2015, Xoom’s more than 1.3 million active customers sent approximately $7.0 billion with Xoom. The company is headquartered in San Francisco and can be found online at www.xoom.com.

 

Forward Looking Statements

This announcement contains forward-looking statements, including statements about the expected impact of this transaction on PayPal’s and Xoom’s financial and operating results and business, the operation and management of Xoom after the acquisition, the anticipated funding for the transaction, and the timing of the closing of the acquisition. Although PayPal and Xoom believe that the assumptions upon which their respective forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, these statements involve risks and uncertainties, and actual results could differ materially from those discussed. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, the receipt and timing of regulatory approvals for the transaction, the possibility that the transaction may not close, the reaction to the transaction of Xoom’s customers and business partners, the reaction of competitors to the transaction, the retention of Xoom employees, PayPal’s plans for Xoom, economic conditions in the global markets in which PayPal and Xoom operate, the future growth of Xoom’s and PayPal’s businesses and the possibility that integration following the transaction may be more difficult than expected.

 

More information about these and other factors can be found in PayPal Holdings, Inc.’s Registration Statement on Form 10, as amended from time to time, and its future filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), and Xoom’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and other filings with the SEC. Neither PayPal nor Xoom accept any responsibility for any financial or operational information contained in this press release relating to the business, results of operations or financial condition of the other. Each of PayPal and Xoom expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to disseminate any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in the expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based.

 

Additional Information and Where to Find It

This communication is being made in respect of the proposed merger transaction involving PayPal and Xoom. This communication does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities or the solicitation of any vote or approval. The proposed merger will be submitted to Xoom stockholders for their consideration. In connection therewith, Xoom intends to file relevant materials with the SEC, including a proxy statement on Schedule 14A. BEFORE MAKING ANY VOTING OR ANY INVESTMENT DECISION, INVESTORS AND SECURITY HOLDERS ARE URGED TO READ THE PROXY STATEMENT REGARDING THE PROPOSED TRANSACTION AND ANY OTHER RELEVANT DOCUMENTS FILED OR TO BE FILED WITH THE SEC, CAREFULLY AND IN THEIR ENTIRETY WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE, BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROPOSED TRANSACTION. Investors and security holders may obtain copies of the proxy statement, any amendments or supplements thereto, and other documents containing important information about Xoom, once such documents are filed with the SEC, free of charge at the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov. In addition, investors and security holders may obtain free copies of the documents filed with the SEC by Xoom on Xoom’s investor relations website at https://ir.xoom.com or by contacting Xoom investor relations at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

 

Participants in Solicitation

Xoom and its directors and executive officers may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies of Xoom stockholders in connection with the proposed transaction. Information about the directors and executive officers of Xoom is set forth in Xoom’s definitive proxy statement for its 2015 annual meeting of stockholders filed with the SEC on April 14, 2015 and in subsequent documents to be filed with the SEC, each of which can be obtained free of charge from the sources indicated above. Other information regarding Xoom’s participants in the solicitation and a description of their direct and indirect interests, by security holdings or otherwise, will be contained in the proxy statement relating to the proposed transaction and other relevant materials to be filed by Xoom with the SEC when they become available.

 

Contacts

For PayPal

 

Investors:

Tracey Ford, Senior Director, Investor Relations: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

Media:

Martha Cass, Director, Corporate Communications: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

For Xoom

Investors:

Sharrifah Al-Salem, Director, Investor Relations: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

Media:

Theresa Pasinosky, Senior Director, Global Brand Marketing: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

 

Original author: PayPal-Forward