Pay Like the Pros

Amazon.com is offering an online payment alternative to eBay’s Paypal. Called Checkout by Amazon (not to be confused with fellow Paypal-alternative Google Checkout), the service allows the 81 million customers who have given Amazon.com their payment details to use that information without re-entering it on any participating site, according to the New York Times. Sites can also use Amazon’s one-click ordering system, calculate sales tax and shipping costs, and let customers track shipments. (The company also rolled out a similar but more basic service called Amazon Simple Pay.) 

But will the pluses of borrowing big-name bells and whistles — not to mention user familiarity — reconcile retailers to hiring a rival, or would it create too much consumer confusion?

Would you use Checkout by Amazon for an online gift shop? How about a bookstore?