The Maze:
Shopify has added five ways to pay at eligible physical stores that use its register software, Shopify POS, and its built-in payment service, Shopify Payments. The options are Alipay, WeChat Pay, Satispay, GrabPay and Scalapay. At checkout, the shopper scans a code on the register and finishes paying on their phone. For retailers serving visitors or shoppers who already use one of these services, the change makes it easier to add a payment option customers ask for.
The Details:
Five more ways to use an existing checkout. Shopify already offered scan-to-pay at the register for options including iDEAL and Swish. The November 6 update adds more services to that same process. Alipay, WeChat Pay, Satispay and GrabPay let shoppers pay through a digital wallet. Scalapay lets eligible shoppers pay in installments. Eligible stores can add the new options through Shopify Payments without connecting another payment system to the register.
Stores choose what to enable, and currency matters. The retailer turns on an eligible method in Shopify’s payment settings and then enables it for the physical checkout. The option appears only when it supports the store’s checkout currency. For example, GrabPay is in early access for eligible Shopify Payments accounts in Singapore accepting Singapore dollars. A chain with stores in several countries may see a different list at each location.
The phone handles payment, and the register confirms it. A cashier selects the method and shows the shopper a QR code, the square pattern that opens the payment on their phone. The shopper then pays in the provider’s app or on a web payment page. Staff wait for the register to show approval. Shopify charges these transactions at the retailer’s online payment rates. An in-store sale completed this way can therefore cost the retailer a different amount to process than one paid by tapping a card.
MarketMaze Take:
The strongest case for adding a method is at stores where customers already ask for it and sometimes leave without buying. If the shopper would have paid with a card anyway, the store has changed how it gets paid and may also have changed its fee and checkout time. Shopify hasn’t published evidence of how many extra sales the new choices generate. A chain can start with the locations where it sees demand, then compare payments that salvaged a sale with those that simply replaced another method before turning it on elsewhere.
