PayPal is attempting to expand its POS presence beyond online payments to include offline merchant locations. The payments company expects 20 national retailers to integrate their solution in 2012. PayPal established relationships with many retailers following their acquisition of Milo.com in 2010 and the subsequent launch of Milo Fetch, a service that enables merchants to share their inventory in real-time online. Online POS machines are blending e-commerce and in-store transactions. This creates an opportunity for PayPal to become a tender type, greatly expanding the company’s addressable market.
“We’re in a strong position in online payments to expand to point of sale,” said John Donohoe, eBay CEO. “We intend to help retailers grow offline in the same way we helped merchants grow online.”
“In this new retail world, consumers expect a seamless experience across physical stores, mobile, laptops or any Internet-connected device,” Donohoe said. “In this new world, physical stores become just another point ¬¬of access. Location alone is not enough. It’s not an advantage.”
eBay’s quarterly earnings report meanwhile, reveals that PayPal delivered its first billion dollar revenue quarter. Strong merchant services growth and increased penetration on eBay contributed to the historic results. PayPal is also gaining strength in mobile payments and expects more than $3 billion in mobile total payment volume this year, compared to $750 million in 2010.
Read more at: http://blogs.forbes.com/tomiogeron/2011/07/20/ebays-paypal-payments-go-offline-preps-point-of-sale-product/