Google Checkout seems to have a few folks baffled and in need of information.
So, I will attempt to explain what Google Checkout is and why we have it featured as a payment option on our website.
Google Checkout, put simply, is Google’s own version of Paypal ( which, whilst I’m mentioning it, we also accept as a payment type. Paypal is owned by EBay for those of you who want to know).
Google Checkout is effectively like holding an account with Google, it’ll allow you to make purchases through a number of web sites (e-commerce sites) safely without having to give your credit card or debit card details on each site.
It will also store your delivery address and billing details with out you having to re-enter it on each purchase you make, all of this is an attempt by Google to prevent fraud as well as consolidating all purchases in one place so you know where you have bought from and what you have bought.
So why do we have our own checkout I hear you ask? Well, we have our own Secure Checkout because a number of people don’t have an account with Google and find it a hassle to set up.
If you want to just buy something quickly but had to visit Google, fill out the forms, register and then re-place your order, most of us would have died of boredom and frustration and have had given up!
Our Secure Checkout enables the buyer to just choose the items they need, then easily fill out where the goods need to go and pay – bish bash bosh.
Actually, to really boast about our checkout system we use a banking system called Protx which is so secure that a number of banks use it and because it is all electrically generated the transaction is done there and then (with out having to wait for funds like Paypal sometimes has to , I think this is called an E-Check).
Another useful thing with our system is that if there are any problems with payments, a member of our team can quickly pop into our accounts online and have a look at the issue and try and help, with Google Checkout we are really limited as to what we can see and do to help.
So to sum it up Google Checkout is a really nifty thing to have (or Paypal) if you’re making lots of purchases over the internet and just want to have one central account with all your information in it, whereas our checkout is for those people on our site just wanting to buy there and then in the safety of the knowledge that our system is secure, hassle free and easily understood.
So I hope this helps you to understand the difference between the two and happy shopping!
Fiona
