Macy’s And PayPal Team Up To Take On Omnicommerce

The world is full of “dynamic duos.”

Chocolate and peanut butter.

Batman and Robin.

Milk and cookies.

Both components of the pair are pretty awesome on their own – but when their powers combine they transcend to become, to use an overused cliché, more than the sum of their parts.

And as of today, the dynamic duo roster might be getting a new — and perhaps slightly unexpected —addition.

Omnichannel and payments.

Made possible by the combination of PayPal’s digital commerce platform and Macy’s, one of the world’s largest and most innovative retailers.

“We are very happy to announce we have partnered with Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s and Macy’s Backstage properties to create a unified buying experience online, on mobile and in-store,” Robert Clarkson, PayPal’s Vice President of Large Enterprise Retail Sales and Partnerships, told MPD CEO Karen Webster before the project was officially announced.

This is actually a pretty big deal – and the first of its kind.

Any consumer who wants to use their PayPal or Macy’s app using the PayPal payment method, can enable that transaction the very same way across all of those channels.

Leveraging PayPal’s Payment Code technology, consumers will be “checked in” to Macy’s stores, and once items have been scanned, will be sent an authorization code in their app or a QR code to scan. The consumer either gives that code to the sales associate who completes the transaction or scans the QR code generated.

No (POS) fuss. No (POS) muss.

And the first real instance of a consistent omnichannel payments experience for the consumer.

Macy’s also announced that it’s now part of PayPal’s One Touch network — joining more than 50 percent of other Internet Retailer Top 500 firms like Eats24 and Overstock.com, who have enabled this simplified checkout capability. Now, Macy’s customers who wish to checkout online or via the mobile app can do so without typing in details and payments credentials by authenticating themselves via their device once, so that subsequent transactions are done via a single tap.

Orlando Veras, speaking for Macy’s, told PYMNTS that the goal is to create a true omnichannel experience for the consumer – and one that truly lives up to the potential marketers have been touting for years. Veras said the breakthrough is the consumer’s ability to use the same way to pay – not just the same method of payment – in the store, on the way to the store or sitting on the couch at home.

[bctt tweet=”The goal is a single multi-channel experience in-store, on the way to the store or sitting on the couch”]

Omnichannel payments will be available in 100 percent of Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s and Macy’s Backstage locations by the end of September.

But there’s more!

Check back tomorrow on PYMNTS to go inside the details of this new way to pay, the partnership, the rollout and the bigger vision it supports. We’ll be publishing the in-depth interview that Karen Webster had with PayPal and Macy’s tomorrow – same bat-time, same bat-channel – 7:30 AM – www.pymnts.com.

(Or you can always follow us on Twitter @pymnts to keep up with all the payments and commerce news as it breaks throughout the day.)