Checkout: The Official Google Checkout Blog

Buy Now buttons for digital goods

2009-07-01T08:29:00.000-07:00

Need a quick and easy way to start selling your new software or your band's music?

You can now use Google Checkout's Buy Now buttons to sell your digital goods online in a few simple steps. Just use the button creation wizard on the 'Tools' tab of your Checkout merchant account and select 'Digital Good' from the 'Describe your item' drop-down list in Step 3. After you place the Buy Now buttons on your website, buyers will be able to quickly and easily complete their purchases using Google Checkout. Once a buyer's card has been successfully authorized, they'll receive instructions on how to access their items using the URL and Key you specified.

Learn more about automatically and securely delivering digital goods to your buyers using Buy Now buttons.

Posted by Lisa August-Schmidt, Google Checkout Operations

Last-minute shopping for Dads & Grads

2009-06-16T05:43:00.000-07:00

Searching for a last-minute gift for your dad or a recent grad? It's easy to find places to save on your summer shopping. You can either browse participating stores on our promotions page or search for products to buy on Google.com and look for one of the Google Checkout promotion badges. Hundreds of participating Checkout stores are offering discounts of $5, $10, or $20. Watch our video to learn how to spot these special offers now through June 21st:

Posted by Chad Liffmann and Jessica Smallman, Google Checkout Operations

Save on gifts for Dads & Grads

2009-06-02T12:39:00.000-07:00

Whether you're shopping for a Father’s Day or graduation gift, or even a little something for yourself, Google Checkout can help you save time and money this summer.

Hundreds of Checkout stores are offering exclusive discounts of $5, $10, or $20 on purchases made through June 21st. And if you’re not sure what to buy, our product gadget displays gift ideas from featured stores. Use Checkout to shop quickly and easily with one login at participating stores, and thousands of others across the web.

Learn more about Google Checkout Dads & Grads special offers and gift ideas.

Posted by Gina Del Vecchio, Google Checkout Operations

Subscriptions now available in beta

2009-03-19T16:05:00.000-07:00

One of our most requested features is a way to sell subscriptions through Google Checkout, and we're pleased to announce that this functionality is now available on our Beta Features page. Merchants will now have the ability to sell products and services that require recurring billing using our API.

So if you're already comfortable building your own carts using Checkout, you're ready to implement Subscriptions by consulting the documentation. Each billing recurrence is a new order, so everything you've learned about processing orders still applies. You can let us create these billing recurrences for you with Google-Handled Subscriptions, or if you'd like more control, you can create these recurrences yourself with Merchant-Handled Subscriptions.

Please try this feature out, and let us know what you think. If you're a member of our Developer's Forum, you can ask questions and leave feedback here. You can also suggest other new Checkout features here.

Posted by Andrew Cunningham, Software Engineer

Improvements to osCommerce integration

2009-03-17T17:08:00.000-07:00

At Google Checkout, we're constantly striving to improve our usability. That's why we've recently made Checkout's installation and configuration much easier on the popular open-source commerce platform osCommerce.

We've completely reworked the installation process by no longer requiring users to manually copy and paste large swaths of PHP code into their files. Instead, we've created an automated deployment app that does this for you by looking for the appropriate PHP insertion points and adding the code where it's needed. This should ease concerns about lines of PHP getting copied into the wrong place. If you want to learn more about the installation process, you can take a look at our documentation that contains a step-by-step walkthrough with screenshots showing exactly how it works.

The post-deployment configuration has also been greatly simplified. We've now grouped the most important fields so they're easy to access, and the rest have been moved to a detailed control panel. There are also descriptions in the walkthrough of how to fill in the necessary fields. Both the app and walkthrough are available here.

We're excited about the improvements to the osCommerce Checkout module. If you're using osCommerce, we invite you to give Checkout a try and share your feedback with us.

Posted by Ed Davisson, Software Engineer

Google Checkout fees in 2009

2009-03-11T09:23:00.000-07:00

When we launched Google Checkout in 2006, we set out to create a fast, secure online shopping experience for our users. Now in our third year of helping merchants increase sales and attract user interest, we're announcing the decision to move from our previous standard fee schedule to a new tiered pricing model where rates decrease as merchants process more transactions through Checkout.

On May 5, we will be implementing a few changes to Google Checkout:

Google Checkout's transaction processing fees will transition to a new tiered fee structure, where the rates will vary depending on a merchant's monthly sales processed through Checkout. For more details about the pricing changes, please visit our U.S. fees page and our U.K. fees page.

With the new tiered fee structure, merchants can qualify for rates as low as 1.9% + $0.30 per transaction in the U.S., and 1.4% + £0.20 per transaction in the U.K.

We will also be discontinuing the AdWords free transaction processing promotion at this time. As previously announced, Google Grants recipients will still be eligible for free donation processing until 2010.

We're committed to the continued growth and development of Checkout and to helping merchants increase sales by driving more leads and higher conversions. Advertisers who use Checkout have the opportunity to display the Checkout badge on their ads, which has proven to help Checkout users convert 40% more than shoppers who have not used Checkout in the past. Stay tuned for more announcements about product enhancements coming soon.

Posted by Anita Barci, Product Marketing Manager

Google Checkout for Non-Profits in 2009

2009-01-14T13:19:00.000-08:00

Since we started Google Checkout for Non-Profits in late 2007, we have been excited by the enthusiastic response we've received from the non-profit community. Over the past year, we've made donation processing simpler and more convenient for thousands of non-profits, benefiting causes such as Myanmar (Burma) cyclone relief, China earthquake relief, Earth Day, and many more. And throughout 2008, we provided all of the donation processing for free, ensuring that 100 percent of contributions went toward supporting those causes.

We will be extending free donation processing for another year, until 2010. However, in an effort to bring more consistency to the eligibility guidelines for Google's non-profit offerings, only those non-profits who are also members of our Google Grants program will be eligible for free donation processing. All other non-profits will transition to Checkout's standard fee structure on March 1, 2009.

If your organization is already a Google Grants recipient using Checkout for donation processing, please make sure to link your Grants account with Checkout by February 15 to continue receiving free donation processing without interruption. If you are not yet a Google Grants recipient and you meet the guidelines for the program, we strongly encourage you to apply. If you apply for Google Grants by March 1, 2009 and you're accepted, we will retroactively credit you for any Checkout fees incurred while your application was pending. For anyone who falls outside of our guidelines or who decides not to apply for a Google Grant, we realize this news may come as a disappointment, and hope that you'll still find Checkout's ease of use and competitive rates compelling reasons to keep using our product.

For those of you who do become Google Grants recipients, we think you'll find both tools to be effective in helping you increase your online fundraising, and even better when used in concert. Watch this video to learn more about how Grants and Checkout work together for non-profits.

Posted by Prem Ramaswami, Product Manager

Holiday shopping with Google

2008-12-01T09:44:00.000-08:00

Looking for ways to save on your holiday shopping list? Not sure what to buy that special someone? Let Google Checkout and Google Product Search help.

Google Checkout is offering savings of $5, $10, $20 or more on your holiday shopping at over 600 participating stores through December 17th. And the Product Search team reviewed millions of recent queries to find some of the most popular products people are searching for in order to help you with gift ideas.

Use Google Checkout and Product Search to help you save money and find gift ideas this holiday season. Happy Shopping!

Posted by Anita Barci, Product Marketing Manager

Savings on shipping with FedEx

2008-11-26T13:21:00.000-08:00

As the holiday shopping season draws near, we'd like to remind our merchants that FedEx is offering discounted shipping rates for Google Checkout stores. Through this program, Checkout stores can receive up to 21% off their FedEx® shipping. To learn more, please visit our signup page.

Posted by Christian Yee, Product Marketing Manager

Driving higher conversion rates

2008-11-10T11:15:00.000-08:00

As the important holiday shopping season draws near, we've compiled a list of tips merchants can use to increase their Google Checkout conversions.

1) Make sure that your "Google Checkout Accepted" logo is on all of your site's pages. Shoppers may arrive at your site at places other than your main landing page, such as product reviews or customer support. Make sure they know you offer Google Checkout even if they find your site in ways you didn't expect. Here's more about Acceptance Logos and how to use them properly.

2) Have your Checkout button placed "above the fold" -- the part of your webpage that's visible without scrolling. This is usually good practice for any element on your site that you want to prioritize.

3) Include a link to a "What is Google Checkout?" page underneath your Checkout button. Guidelines for implementing this Google-hosted page that answers basic buyer questions can be found here under the section labeled "Messaging."

We hope you find these tips useful for increasing your holiday conversion rates. And here are even more ways to help drive sales using other Google products.

Posted by Heather Folsom, Product Manager and Christian Yee, Product Marketing Manager
Google Checkout Team

Button up your website with the Google Checkout shopping cart

2008-10-28T12:16:00.000-07:00

If you've been using our Checkout Buy Now buttons, you're aware that these buttons only allow your buyers to purchase one item at a time from your website. But what happens if buyers wish to purchase more than one item? This is where the new Google Checkout shopping cart comes in. With the Google Checkout shopping cart, your buyers can add multiple items to their shopping cart, change item quantities, and remove items -- all without leaving your site. When buyers are ready to check out, they can complete their purchases with Google Checkout. The cart is quick to load and snappy to respond, so your buyers will love it. To see the cart in action, check out the Demo Store. To learn more about the cart's features, visit the overview page.

How do you get started? If you have an account, all you need to do to set up the shopping cart is visit the Google Checkout shopping cart page located under the Tools tab in the Google Checkout Merchant Center. Just enter your product information, price, and image location. The page will generate an HTML snippet that you can insert on your product web pages. To test that your button is working, just click it. A shopping cart should appear in the upper right hand of your browser window. If you want to customize the cart's look and feel or use more advanced options, you can do that too with this developer's guide.

We hope you enjoy this new feature.

Posted by Boris Mizhen, Engineer, and Heather Folsom, Product Manager
Google Checkout Team

Set your store up for holiday success

2008-10-15T12:41:00.000-07:00

We know that many of you are preparing your stores for the busiest shopping season of the year, so we've compiled some tips and tools that can help you optimize your website, marketing channels, and ad campaigns.

A sample tip: If you're an AdWords merchant, be sure to display Google Checkout badges on your AdWords ads. Google Checkout users click on ads 10% more when they display the Checkout badge.

Our tools consist of several Google products that retailers can use to help drive additional traffic and sales this holiday, such as Google Product Search, which shoppers use to search for and find products they want to buy online. As a merchant, you can use Product Search to promote your products and drive holiday traffic to your store for free.

With the holidays just around the corner, now is a good time to make sure that your site is in the best shape for maximizing your holiday traffic and revenue. Here's more information, and remember -- it's never too early to start preparing for the season.

Posted by Jessica Ng, Product Marketing Manager

Back-to-School savings now in session

2008-08-21T11:15:00.000-07:00

Whether you're looking to fill up a backpack or a dorm room, Google Checkout is a fast, easy way to buy what you need this fall. Checkout shoppers can get savings of $5 or more at hundreds of stores for a limited time. And after you take advantage of these exclusive offers, you can use your Google Checkout login for quick, secure shopping throughout the school year at thousands of online stores.

Posted by Christian Yee, Product Marketing Manager

Meet the Team: David Wurtz

2008-08-20T09:35:00.000-07:00

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

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

David: I've been an associate product manager on Google Checkout since joining Google last June.

Alyssa: What did you do before coming to Google?

David: I came to Google directly out of college. I attended a very small engineering school in Boston called Olin College of Engineering, where I studied bioengineering. I know, I know. It has nothing to do with my job at Google. But hey -- one of these days, I may find a way to apply my degree to Checkout. In junior year of college, I actually dropped out for a semester to start a web 2.0 company called Flagr. Flagr is a social network based around the places you go and the things you see. Flagr's slogan explains it all: Bookmark the real world. This was a fantastic experience, and offered me incredible insight into the world of Silicon Valley, angel investors, and VCs. I often reference my experiences at Flagr on my day-to-day role on Checkout.

Alyssa: What sorts of things fill your day?

David: One of the best aspects of my job at Google is that each day I face a completely new set of challenges and opportunities. It's such a fast-paced, dynamic environment that it's hard to fall into a routine. This makes a question like this difficult to answer, but let me give it a shot...

In a typical day, here are some things I may do:

Draft a product brief: This is a proposal that outlines a potential new Checkout feature and presents a strong business case for why we should add it to the product. We work hard to ensure our time is spent developing the most effective features.
Mock something up: I'm a fairly visual guy, so I tend to get myself involved in the user interface design of my projects.
Reach out to merchants: Merchant feedback plays a big role in new feature development, so I frequently reach out to merchants to add them as testers.
Learn about other Google initiatives: As you might expect, there's a lot going on at Google. A big part of the product management role here is understanding all the other initiatives that are under way, so you can better grasp a) how your features fit into the bigger picture and b) how your team can collaborate with other Google teams to create even better products.
Try stuff out: I typically sign up for one or two web services in the commerce space each day, just to see what the competitive marketplace looks like.

Alyssa: What has been an incredible moment that you have experienced since joining?

David: A few months ago, I traveled around the world (literally) with 35 of my fellow associate product managers as part of an annual trip. We visited four countries over the span of two weeks: Japan, China, Russia, and Norway. Our schedule was jam-packed! We visited local Google offices, interviewed Google users, met with high-tech startups and venture capitalists, and toured all four cities.

As you may have guessed, the trip was full of incredible moments. But one morning, we woke up early to visit the Tsujiki fish market in Tokyo. The market serves as a central auction place for Japanese fish vendors and merchants. Thousands of merchants line up for their chance to bid on the latest catch -- huge, one-ton tunas that cost thousands of dollars each. Surrounding the auction are hundreds of local vendors, each selling a variety of unidentifiable (but edible) sea creatures. Some of these merchants are bargaining with customers, some are slicing and dicing fish with machetes, and some are transporting their loads at lightening speed on modified go-carts.

A hectic place to be at 5:00 am! As a sushi lover, you can imagine this was an amazing experience. What topped it off was the two pounds of raw fish I had for breakfast that morning. With so much supply, the prices were incredibly low and the fish was really fresh. It certainly reset my expectations for what good sushi should taste like.

Alyssa: What about when you are off duty?

David: When I'm not at Google, I enjoy throwing a Frisbee, exploring new and interesting places around the world with my fiancée, dabbling in some eCommerce ventures of my own, and -- of course -- playing with my Maltese puppy, "Maya." I'm also a big fan of the financial markets, where I like to trade option spreads. How do I spend Friday night? Watching a Netflix DVD, a Lost episode, or perhaps hanging out at Barnes and Noble with a great book.

Posted by Alyssa England, Google Checkout Team

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.