PayPal enters German stores
Goodbye to paper money – with this slogan, PayPal intends to launch its first digital wallet in the world, in Germany, thus entering the race of digital wallets at the store level, not just online.
The announcement came during the OMR digital exhibition in Hamburg, where the company's marketing director, Geoff Seely, explained that electronic payment should move from screens to payment terminals in physical stores.
PayPal's success began in the early 2000s when many eBay users relied on the service for its ease of use and security. Later, the PayPal button became a standard feature on most websites, solidifying the company's position as a B2B tech firm. However, according to Seely, this is no longer enough today.
In the modern world of e-commerce, the number of competitors has significantly increased, and consumers can choose from multiple payment methods. For example, the Canadian company Shopify offers its own solution called 'Shop Pay', and its stock price has doubled over the past two years, while PayPal's stock has remained at the same level as in 2018.
Geoff Silly, who was appointed in early 2024 and was previously the marketing director at Airbnb, believes that PayPal should move out of the "e-brand" framework and transform into a daily consumer brand, present in all payment processes, whether online or in stores. He pointed out that offering options such as discounts, installment payments, or credit increases the attractiveness of the service.
The company has already launched a major advertising campaign in the United States to transition the brand from the digital world to reality, and this campaign will kick off in Germany starting in June. However, the German market presents a particular challenge due to the clear tendency of Germans to use cash.