Google Checkout Blog

Checkout summer savings

2008-06-04T10:39:00.000-07:00

Posted by Christian Yee, Product Marketing Manager

Whether you're traveling to far-off locales or relaxing at home, save on items for your summer adventure with Google Checkout. You can shop with one login across the web and track all your orders in one place. And starting today, over 50 Google Checkout stores will be offering savings of $10 off purchases of $60 or more to Checkout buyers through June 23rd. Learn more about Google Checkout summer offers.

Welcome, Orvis

2008-05-29T13:19:00.000-07:00

Posted by Sarah Hoople, Strategic Partner Manager

Summer is nearly here and we're happy to welcome Orvis to Google Checkout. Known for world-famous fly fishing gear, distinctive clothing, home furnishings, and gifts, Orvis is one of the oldest outfitters in the U.S. (they've been in business more than 150 years!) and a leader in customer service. By enabling Google Checkout, Orvis is offering their customers another checkout choice as they prepare for the great outdoors.

Help bring relief in China

2008-05-21T11:10:00.000-07:00

Posted by Alyssa England, Associate Product Marketing Manager

Last week, China's Sichuan province was devastated by a 7.9-magnitude earthquake. Currently, we know that there are tens of thousands reported dead and hundreds of thousands who are wounded and homeless following this catastrophe. Buildings are in ruins and rescue efforts have been hampered by aftershocks and landslides. If you'd like to participate in the global relief effort that is under way to help those suffering in Sichuan, you can do so by making a donation here. Donations through this program will help strengthen relief efforts and assist survivors as they rebuild their lives and communities.

Support relief efforts in Myanmar (Burma)

2008-05-08T13:58:00.000-07:00

Posted by Nay Aung, Checkout team

The situation in Myanmar (Burma) continues to deteriorate in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis. It is estimated that more than 22,000 lives have perished and 41,000 people are missing. One million people are left without shelter, electricity, and clean water. Some reports suggest that the death toll could rise even higher if help does not arrive in a timely manner.

As a Googler and a citizen of Myanmar, I'd like to bring your attention to a way that you can help: this donations page. Even small donations will help, so please consider making a donation to support the relief efforts in Myanmar.

Zappos.com takes a step forward with Google Product Search

2008-05-02T10:00:00.000-07:00

Posted by Alyssa England, Associate Product Marketing Manager

Checkout is just one of the Google ecommerce solutions available to merchants. Take a look at the Google Base blog to learn how Zappos.com succeeded in increasing conversions and lowering costs by adding their products to Google Product Search for free.

Continue to make a difference for Earth Day

2008-05-01T10:08:00.000-07:00

Posted by Gavin Chan, Product Marketing Manager

Even though Earth Day was last week, it's not too late to make an impact. You can still donate to an environmental non-profit organization using Google Checkout. And when you donate on behalf of friends and family, we'll give you a personalized view of Google Maps so you'll be able to see how your generosity spreads.

Take a look at this video the Checkout team put together to see how easy it is to get started. You can also view this Googler's donations map to get an idea of what your personal map could look like. If you haven't done it already, we encourage you to support Earth Day by visiting Checkout's Earth Day page and making a donation.

At ECMTA 2008 Spring eCommerce Summit

2008-04-23T10:17:00.000-07:00

Posted by Alyssa England, Google Checkout team

This week (April 22-24) we're attending the eCommerce Merchant Trade Association's 2008 Spring eCommerce Summit in New Orleans. If you're at the show, come see our Commerce and Analytics educational session on Wednesday afternoon at the Morial Convention Center. We have team members present to tell you about how you can process your transactions for free with Google Checkout and increase your sales. Plus, you can hear more about other products in Google's commerce solution, including Product Search and Google Analytics.

Donate for Earth Day and watch your generosity spread

2008-04-15T21:34:00.000-07:00

Posted by Anita Barci, Product Marketing Manager

On April 22, the world will celebrate Earth Day -- a day when people gather together to raise awareness about the state of the planet, and to take action on issues that affect our environment. And now Google Checkout offers a unique way for you to contribute.

Starting today, you can use Google Checkout to make a contribution to an environmental non-profit on behalf of friends and family. Your donation will be indicated as a marker (using your zip or postal code) on a personal view of Google Maps. If the people you donated on behalf of follow your example and donate, they will be added to your map as well. And when your friends donate on behalf of others, their donations will also appear on your map, so you can see how your generosity grows.

To learn more about donating to an environmental non-profit using Google Checkout, visit our Checkout Earth Day page. If you'd like to see what else Google is doing to support Earth Day, take a look here. Happy Earth Day!

Meet the Team: Prem Ramaswami

2008-03-26T17:03:00.000-07:00

Posted by Alyssa England, Google Checkout team

From time to time we'll introduce you to a member of the Checkout team. Meet one now.

Alyssa: How long have you been at Google, and what role do you play on Checkout?

Prem: I've been a Google Checkout product manager for over a year. I work closely with our merchant engineering team in the greatest city on Earth (New York, for those of you who don't live here :)). Before Google, I worked for MIT Lincoln Laboratory in Lexington, Massachusetts, as an engineer on an airborne 3D laser radar wide-area mapping program. And before that, I was finishing up an undergraduate degree in electrical and computer engineering and biomedical engineering from Carnegie Mellon University. Though I'm not mapping things with lasers anymore, I am still excited about the work I do to enhance the overall ecommerce experience for merchants and buyers.

Alyssa: What sorts of things fill your day?

Prem: I work closely with our engineering team on building an easy-to-use service, and I coordinate with sales and operations to make sure we're focused on the features that make it simple for sellers to offer Checkout. Together, we look for ways to drive more traffic and increase customer conversions. I also spend a lot of time reviewing feedback from merchants to ensure that we're paying attention to the needs of potential and current sellers. As part of the Checkout team, I've worked on features ranging from our easily downloadable order reports to our Checkout for Non-Profits launch.

Alyssa: How do you go about taking an idea like Checkout for Non-Profits from conception to reality?

Prem: Carefully! In all seriousness, this idea was a fairly obvious one, considering the fact that Google has a history of supporting the non-profit world. I found an engineer who was interested, and together we spent the famous Google 20% time working on this. As a product manager, I need to worry about the entire project, driving it from idea to implementation. This means everything from legal and compliance work to guaranteeing a great user experience. With the non-profit launch specifically, we had to make sure that the experience wasn't confusing for the donors or for the charities. You might think that sounds like a lot, and it is, but product managers are known as jacks of all trades (feel free to insert master-of-none joke here!).

Alyssa: Any high points?

Prem: When first thinking about Google Checkout for Non-Profits, I wanted to create a new program that would really revolutionize the process of collecting donations for non-profits without huge technology budgets and I knew that getting the resources I needed would require executive support. When it was time to get approval for the service, I scheduled a meeting with Larry, Sergey, and Eric, prepared a 40-slide deck with numerous projections, and braced myself for what I expected would be a long, involved discussion. Instead, I presented the first slide and Larry said, "We should do this." Eric agreed. And just like that, the meeting was over. Coolest thing ever.

Alyssa: That's great. And what about when you're "off-duty"?

Prem: New York is a great city with lots to do. I love getting out of my apartment (also known as my room, since it's a studio) and exploring. I read a lot -– I'm a self-described news junkie, and the number of times I refresh Google Reader in a day is truly sad. I'm a huge Kurt Vonnegut fan, but I'll pretty much pick up any book ranging from fiction to non-fiction as long as someone else tells me it's a worthwhile read. I just recently read a great book called The Mouse Driver Chronicles. I travel a ton and completed a work trip to Japan, China, Thailand, India, and Israel earlier. I also get addicted to the tube, watching shows like Entourage, Heroes, 24, Lost, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Scrubs, and lots more (I'm always playing catch-up!).

Product Search and Checkout - A Perfect Match

2008-03-14T14:20:00.000-07:00

Posted by Alyssa England, Product Marketing Manager

Did you know about the ways Google Product Search and Google Checkout can work together to increase traffic and sales to your site? For those not familiar with the service, Product Search allows merchants to upload their products for free, making their products more discoverable for Google users. Using Product Search and Google Checkout together can be even more effective to connect you with potential buyers. If you're a Google Checkout merchant, the Checkout badge will appear next to your listings in the Product Search results. Users even have the option of searching for only Checkout-enabled items.

We've heard great success stories from merchants who have leveraged Google Product Search and Google Checkout to grow their business. Shawn Butler, head of development at Bestprices.com, recently said that, "The combination allows buyers and sellers to find each other through Google, and online retailers to benefit as a result." According to Shawn, Product Search now accounts for more than 35% of his store's overall sales. Visit Google Product Search to learn more about uploading your products for free.

Additional users: The more, the merrier

2008-02-15T15:34:00.001-08:00

Posted by David Wurtz, Product Manager

We've been hearing from our merchants that they'd like to be able to add more users to existing accounts, and to set the account privileges for those new users. Today we're taking the first steps toward enabling that kind of functionality, by making it possible for account administrators to add multiple users to their Google Checkout accounts while still maintaining sole control of important account and payment-related information.

Additional users will be able to view order-related information in your account, perform order searches, and view your order inbox. However, these users will not be able to take any actions on the orders, view payments, or modify account settings.

To invite new users, simply log in to Google Checkout and click "Settings" on the top navigation. Then, on the left-hand side, click "Users." From this screen you'll be able to send invitations to your employees.

eTail 2008: Come see us

2008-02-12T11:38:00.000-08:00

Posted by Alyssa England, Product Marketing Manager

This week (February 11-14) the Google Checkout and Google Product Search teams are headed to Palm Desert, California, for the eTail 2008 conference. If you're planning to attend, please stop by and visit us at booth #64. We'll be on hand to explain how Google Checkout and Google Product Search can help you manage listings, drive leads, increase conversions, and reduce costs.

See you there!

Tax made easy!

2008-01-30T14:02:00.000-08:00

Posted by David Wurtz, Product Manager

We have received valuable feedback about the process of specifying tax in your cart posts, especially when using Buy Now buttons. That's why we are very excited to release our new "Tax Rules" feature, found under the 'Settings' tab. From here you can specify default tax rates that will be used when your cart posts lack tax information.

For those of you who rely mostly on Buy Now buttons, it is easy to charge tax on your items with these new settings in place. And for those of you who post shopping carts that already contain tax information, you can choose to use this account setting instead.

Thanks to everyone who brought this issue to our attention. We're always on the lookout for feedback like this, so please keep it coming.

PS: In case you weren't aware, there's another way to specify shipping and taxes in your Buy Now buttons: Simply add the few lines of code shown below to your Buy Now button snippet (just don't forget to modify this example code to reflect your actual shipping and taxes).

<input type="hidden" name="ship_method_name_1" value="UPS Ground"/>
<input type="hidden" name="ship_method_price_1" value="10.99"/>

<input type="hidden" name="tax_rate" value="0.0875"/>
<input type="hidden" name="tax_us_state" value="NY"/>

Announcing Order Report API

2008-01-28T16:19:00.000-08:00

Posted by Prem Ramaswami, Product Manager

A few months ago, we released a reporting feature that enabled you to easily review and download previous orders. Initially accessible only from the seller interface, this feature is now also available to API users. With the Order Report API, you can download a list of Google Checkout orders into a comma-separated file. The API will return a list of orders for a period of up to 31 days, and you can limit results to orders that have specific financial or fulfillment order states.

As always, we are interested in hearing your feedback so please let us know we can make the merchant experience event better.

Checkout for Political Contributions

2008-01-16T08:01:00.000-08:00

Posted by Prem Ramaswami, Product Manager

More and more citizens are making political contributions online, and the newly launched Google Checkout for Political Contributions is an easy and fast way for candidates to collect contributions from supporters and build new online communities by enabling supporters to embed Checkout contribution buttons on their websites, blogs, and social network profiles. If you happen to be running for national office, there's more information (and a quick process to get started) here. We hope this initiative helps bring regular citizens one step closer to the political process.

New on the hot list: Google Checkout Trends

2008-01-10T11:29:00.000-08:00

Posted by David Wurtz, Product Manager

Many of you are aware of Google Trends, the handy tool that enables you to track and compare what Google users are searching for. Now imagine a similar tool that can give you some insight into what people are buying and selling online. That's exactly what we've built: Google Checkout Trends aggregates the sales data of Google Checkout merchants and charts it in a matter of seconds. (Of course, all the data is anonymized first.) So if you're interested in how sales of Batman or Spider Man paraphernalia compare, or are wondering just how popular Ugg boots are these days, visit Checkout Trends for a glimpse into online shopping. Go ahead and try it out -- and get creative with the searches. You may be surprised at what you find.

Vote for the features that matter most

2008-01-07T16:27:00.000-08:00

Posted by Lisa August-Schmidt, Google Checkout Operations

When it comes to improvements for Checkout, you know best which features will make a difference to your business. In the past, we've followed your discussions in the developers forum and have noted your email requests too. Now we've built a Feature Request Form that will let you vote for the three new elements you'd be most interested in having. We've also included a section at the bottom where you can suggest any features we haven't listed. Your ideas will help us get a better idea of which new features you'd most like to see. So let us know what you want -- we're listening!

Helping sellers integrate Checkout

2008-01-03T11:49:00.000-08:00

Posted by Jayanth Mysore, Product Manager

We've launched a new set of pages that offer more information on how to integrate Checkout into your site. Now you can more easily:

* compare our different options for integrating
* identify shopping cart platforms that have already integrated Google Checkout
* better understand the integration process with our APIs (including a handy checklist to guide you through the process)

If you've already signed up or integrated, you'll find the new content under our recently launched "Tools" tab. If you are a new merchant just signing up, you'll automatically land on the new integration options page. We'll keep you updated as we add new content to these pages over the next few months.

Finding ways to give back during the holidays

2007-12-17T10:37:00.000-08:00

Posted by Prem Ramaswami, Product Manager

Since launching Google Checkout for Non-Profits a few months ago, we've gotten a lot of email from people wanting to know where they can use Checkout to make donations. The volume of email has only increased as we've moved further into the holiday season, so we thought we'd launch a holiday page that highlights some of the organizations you can support using Checkout.

The holiday season is a wonderful time to give, and we have some great organizations accepting donations through Checkout, including AmeriCares, Direct Relief, the March of Dimes, and UNICEF. Using Google Checkout, you can donate $35 to buy a water pump for Action Against Hunger, fight global warming with Clean Air-Cool Planet, and help kids achieve their dreams through The Global Fund for Children. And when you donate, every penny of your donation goes to the organization.

Free transaction processing beyond the holidays

2007-12-12T10:17:00.000-08:00

Posted by Gavin Chan, Product Marketing Manager

As you merchants out there may know, we originally planned to transition back to Checkout's standard fee structure on January 1. Considering how busy this time of the year is for you, we're extending our free transaction processing offer an extra month -- to February 1, 2008.

After that, you'll still be able to earn free credit card processing by using AdWords, Google's performance-based advertising program. For every $1 / £1 you spend on AdWords, you'll be able to process $10 / £10 of sales through Checkout for free. For anything outside of that, you'll be charged 2.0% plus $.20 per transaction if you're in the US, and 1.5% plus £0.15 if you're in the UK.

So if you're an AdWords advertiser, make sure you link your AdWords account with Checkout by the end of January to earn free transaction processing moving forward. If you aren't an AdWords advertiser, learn more about AdWords and sign up to earn free transaction processing with Google Checkout.

Holiday shopping with Product Search and Checkout

2007-12-11T13:32:00.000-08:00

Posted by Gavin Chan, Product Marketing Manager

When thinking about ways to help people use both Google Product Search and Google Checkout to do their holiday shopping this year, a few of us from these teams decided to have a little fun. The result is a short video featuring our very own Kristin and Brian in their holiday finery. So if this video inspires you to shop, make sure to visit our holiday special offers page. And happy holidays to you.

Cardinal Commerce goes mobile

2007-11-27T19:04:00.000-08:00

Posted by Reid Townsend, Technical Account Manager

Some things are simply better together, like chocolate and peanut butter. Or, say, Google Checkout and mobile devices. We launched Google Checkout for mobile back in May, and we’re excited to announce a new way to make products available to the legions of mobile users. Cardinal Commerce has integrated Google Checkout for mobile into their MAX platform. SkyMall, RitzCamera, Dazadi, and Northern Response are now serving up their products to mobile users everywhere with this new technology.

How does it work? Merchants simply post a keyword linked to an item for sale (on a billboard, in a magazine, or on a poster, for example); buyers can text in this keyword on their phone, and then they'll get a link back that they can use to complete their purchase with Google Checkout. It's that easy!

You can also text "google" to 49432 to access the products from these merchants on Cardinal Commerce.

Holiday shopping is now more rewarding

2007-11-26T09:36:00.000-08:00

Posted by Shoaib Makani, Product Marketing Manager

Don't let the holiday shopping grinch put the squeeze on your time or budget. With Google Checkout you can shop more quickly with one login across the web and stay organized with all your Checkout orders tracked in one place. And to help you save on those holiday purchases, more than 100 Google Checkout stores are offering promotions ranging from exclusive discounts of up to $50 to free shipping for Checkout buyers through December 17, 2007. What's more, when you shop with Google Checkout through December 31, 2007, you can earn frequent flyer miles.

Reward yourself with the gift of time and exclusive savings. Learn more about Google Checkout holiday offers here.

Introducing the "Tools" tab

2007-11-21T13:19:00.000-08:00

Posted by David Wurtz, Product Manager

We're always busy adding new features to improve the Checkout experience for our merchants, and many of these new features have found a home under the "Settings" tab. But to alleviate some of the congestion under that tab, we recently launched a shiny new "Tools" tab. Here, you'll find all the tools you've (hopefully) grown to love. These include:

Buy Now Buttons
Email Invoices
Coupons
Integration Console
...and more to come

Settings like preferences and financial information will stay put -- they'll just have a bit more breathing room now. We hope you find that this new tab greatly improves the organization of our interface, and ensures that your favorite tools are easy to find.

Google Checkout badges on non-profits' AdWords ads

2007-11-15T10:17:00.000-08:00

Posted by Prem Ramaswami, Product Manager

One of the great things about working at Google is the opportunity to contribute to the company's support of the non-profit community. Google works with non-profits in a number of different ways, ranging from helping them increase their visibility and drive traffic to their sites through the Google Grants program, to providing them with special versions of products like Google Apps, Google Earth, and YouTube which help them take better advantage of new technology as they work to further their causes.

As a member of the Google Checkout team, I've been able to make a contribution by helping launch Google Checkout for Non-Profits, which enables non-profits to collect online credit card donations free of charge (and free of hassle) using Checkout. And today I'm happy to announce that we will now begin displaying the Google Checkout badge on the AdWords ads of non-profit organizations who use Checkout.

An important part of Google Checkout is matching up users with convenient, secure places to shop when they search, and the Checkout badge on AdWords ads is one of the ways we've been able to do that. In this same vein, we're adding the Checkout badge to non-profits' AdWords ads to help connect donors and non-profits more easily, and ultimately make donating to them as fast, simple, and secure as possible. And, of course, Google has committed to processing Checkout donations for free through at least the end of 2008, so donors can support their favorite non-profits knowing that 100 percent of their donations will reach those organizations.

If you'd like to learn more about how Google Checkout for Non-Profits might be able to help your non-profit organization, head over to http://checkout.google.com/seller/npo/.