How would you like to receive payments while you are having a conversation with your customers on Facebook Messenger using PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL)?
If you are having a conversation with your customer on Messenger, the new chat extension for invoicing from PayPal is going to let you create and send an invoice at the same time. You can include price and images on the invoice, so your customer can finalize the transaction within the conversation.
With 80 percent of small businesses using Facebook for marketing, the social media platform has become an effective tool for directly engaging with customers. When business owners are having a conversation on Messenger about a product or service, there are many opportunities for upselling. The new PayPal chat extension simplifies the process so the customer can act right away and you can receive the payment.
The new extension is addressing the many ways in which consumers and businesses can have a conversation and carry out transactions. Shilpa Dhar, Director of Product for Next Generation Commerce at PayPal, explains the current environment in a post announcing the new feature on the company blog. He says, “Commerce is continuously expanding into new contexts. With the explosion of mobile apps, new commerce opportunities have been created and consumers are looking to make purchases in-context, without leaving those applications.”
Using PayPal Invoicing on Facebook Messenger
The new extension expands on the peer-to-peer payment feature PayPal announced for Messenger just last month. Enhancing the way sellers and other businesses can use Messenger and engage with Facebook’s 2 plus billion users creates a great opportunity.
According to PayPal, all you have to do to create and send an invoice is open the extension tray, select PayPal and create the invoice. You can add the name of the product, description, quantity and price, and send it to your customer.
When customers receive the invoice, they can simply click “Pay with PayPal” and finalize the transaction with PayPal One Touch.
What Does This Mean for Your Small Business
It means you are making it possible for your customers to simplify the payment experience. According to Business Insider, 46.1 percent of cart abandonments occur at the payment stage. This doesn’t mean they won’t come back, but the process is more complicated than it has to be.
By adding the new PayPal extension, you are making the payment process much easier for your customers, which might end up being a big enough reason for them to come back.
Images: PayPal