PayPal gains significant ground in online payment market

Commenting on the Payments Council Report ‘UK Payments Market 2008', Mark Hodson, Marketing Director at PayPal UK said: "The increase in PayPal's market share of consumer internet payments from 16% in 2006 to 21% in 2007 as highlighted by the report is exciting news. The findings firmly establish PayPal as the nation's favourite online payment solution.

"PayPal is now featured as a payment option on over 120,000 retailer's sites across Europe. Major UK brands which have launched with PayPal in recent months include William Hill, CDWow, Victor Chandler and all the Arcadia brands; Burton, Dorothy Perkins, Evans, Miss Selfridge, Topman, Topshop and Wallis. By partnering with PayPal these retailers gain an additional way to accept credit cards, debit card and bank payments online. In addition, with PayPal's Express Checkout websites have an average shopping cart conversion of 72%, compared to the industry average of just 50%.

"Online shoppers are still concerned about identity theft, and are rightly wary of typing their card details on e-commerce sites. PayPal offers the peace of mind that their financial details are not shared. As a result, PayPal is the most preferred online payment brand in the UK and has a customer base of over 20 million online shoppers. Consumers are demanding faster online shopping experiences, which are both safe and secure. The convenience of being able to checkout in just a few clicks without having to type in payment details or address are what make PayPal such a popular way to pay.

"It's clear that online retail sales are booming and we hope to continue the momentum we have built up and see our market share increase again for 2008."