Apple Pay A Hit For Staples Online (In-Store Not So Much)

Apple Pay for in-store purchases via NFC gets much of the attention, even though much of the action the new payment service sees is actually online. That has been the case for Staples anyway; the big box retailer says that since its launch in October 2014, the payment service has become the most popular method of payment processed by the company’s iOS app.

Prat Vemana, Vice President of Mobile Commerce at Staples, told a panel hosted by Chetan Sharma Consulting in Seattle that Apple Pay users account for 30 percent of purchases made through the retailer’s app, according to reports in FierceMobileIT.

“Apple Pay has been one of the most successful implementations when it comes to payments,” he said.

Staples was among the first round of U.S. retailers to jump on the Apple Pay bandwagon. The service has been available in 1,400 Staples locations since November 2014.

Apple Pay’s easy-to-use system has functioned as a growth enhancer for Staples as well as an improved mobile payments method. Staples reports that 65 percent of transactions originating from Apple Pay users were also from customers who were shopping at Staples for the first time.

Staples’ app users are almost evenly split between iOS and Android, but the revenue generated is not split so evenly. According to Vemana, 70 percent of mobile revenue is generated by Apple device owners.

“The question is, is it demographic? What is it about Android that those users are hesitant about payments? The question is still open,” he said.

Physical iPhone-based touchless purchases, on the other hand, have not had the overwhelming success that Apple Pay has enjoyed in-app. Vemana did not offer up specific numbers but noted that Apple Pay is not a top (or even a top three) favorite for in-store buys.

“On mobile it overtook everything else so I think it will be a slower adoption in stores,” Vemana said.