Payment Options

Amazon.com plans to offer brick-and-mortar retailers a checkout system that uses Kindle tablets as soon as this summer, people briefed on the company's plans said. In one scenario, the Seattle company would give merchants Kindle tablets and credit card readers, the people said. Amazon also might offer retailers other services, such as website development and data analysis, the people said. To accelerate the project, Amazon last year bought certain technology and hired some engineers from GoPago Inc., a startup that offered checkout systems linked to a smartphone app.

Michaels, the biggest U.S. arts and crafts retailer, said it's investigating a possible breach on its network and advised customers to check financial statements for fraudulent activity. The warning, which comes in the wake of the unprecedented breach at Target Corp. over the holiday shopping season, suggests that hackers may be attacking retailers in a spree the extent of which is yet to be fully understood. Target last month disclosed an unprecedented breach that resulted in the theft of some 40 million payment card records and another 70 million customers’ records. 

Some shoppers who received a Target gift card this holiday season may find that redeeming it requires some work. Target confirmed Tuesday that a number of gift cards sold during the holiday period weren't fully activated, so shoppers attempting to use them would find they had no value. The snafu comes at a tough time for Target, to say the least. The company recently announced that a data breach had affected an estimated 40 million debit and credit card accounts used to make purchases at Target stores during the holiday rush.

Kmart is introducing a rent-to-own program charging the equivalent of 100-plus percent annual interest, a move into a business that's drawn criticism for hurting low-income consumers. The Lease-to-Own program touts instant gratification — customers without credit take a product home right away, make biweekly payments, then decide whether to buy out or return the product. A typical deal could turn a $300 television into a $415 purchase. Sears Holdings Corp., which owns Kmart, debuted a similar program at its namesake stores earlier this year.

Gift cards are a tried-and-true strategy for influencing purchase decisions and, as such, have proven to be a lucrative revenue stream for small and big-box retailers alike. Today, gift cards take many forms and represent more than $110 billion in sales. Tomorrow, however, holds something much bigger for retailers with gifting programs. There's a "branded currency" revolution on the horizon; those retailers that can make the transition from a traditional gift card program to a comprehensive branded currency strategy will have the opportunity to increase online and in-store sales, drive new customer acquisition and grow loyalty.

In the spirit of the season, I thought I'd check in with North Mankato, Minn.-based HalloweenCostumes.com, a leading online Halloween costume destination, to see how it was faring this season. HalloweenCostumes.com was started 10 years ago out of a garage; today it receives hundreds of thousands of costume orders during the Halloween season. The company attributes its growth and success to several factors, including leveraging scalable technology from partners such as PayPal, Google and Amazon.com.

Federal regulators are probing eBay's Bill Me Later for potential consumer abuses associated with its money-lending practices, the company disclosed in a regulatory filing. Bill Me Later, which eBay absorbed in 2008 through a PayPal acquisition, has previously come under fire for charging deferred interest and is fighting a lawsuit in Utah, where its current and former issuing banks are chartered.

Identity theft and consumer fraud are synonymous with internet scams. From complaint boards to value-added upsells solicited by credit card companies, when it comes to fraudulent online activity, the most common offender is seen as a vicious criminal. However, a different type of fraud is taking the lion's share of this nomenclature by storm, boasting an explosive growth rate when it comes to online transactions. The criminal behind the scenes is one who is very rarely recognized. This is what's being referred to as "friendly fraud."

PayPal will introduce a new way for people to pay for goods in-store with their phones in another bid to extend its business beyond online retailers. The Payment Code feature, announced yesterday, will allow PayPal users to pay for things in physical retail stores by scanning a QR code generated in the app, or by using a one-time four-digit code in stores that use PIN codes but don't have a scanner.

There are so many different shopping cart providers today, how do you know what to look for when selecting one? The answer ultimately lies in knowing which software will adapt and grow with your business best. As I see it, there are five absolutely critical things that must be considered when setting up an online store and selecting an online shopping cart: