“It’s incredibly convenient…with the ease of downloading the Add to Cart button code to my website. And I had the Shopping Cart buttons up and running inside an hour.”-- Kurt Denke of BlueJeansCable.com

Merchants Integrate PayPal Quickly and Easily

Floyd Hacker of FlashlightsUnlimited.com

Floyd was impressed by the simplicity of the PayPal Shopping Cart. “The set-up process was flawless. I used the online form to generate the shopping cart buttons.” This part of the process took Floyd just minutes.

Floyd explains that, with the most basic web programming knowledge, merchants can combine the PayPal-provided code with product graphics and copy to build entirely new product pages in just an hour or two. “I have gotten to where I can literally just copy and paste the shopping cart code, tweak the price, tweak the description, and it’s done.”
Read the FlashlightsUnlimited.com case study

Kurt Denke of BlueJeansCable.com

From an integration and ease-of-use standpoint, PayPal was just what Kurt and Pam Denke needed. “With PayPal, we didn’t have to worry about integrating a separate payment processor,” Kurt says, “because the PayPal Shopping Cart itself was already integrated into PayPal.I set it up myself, and even though I was pretty new to HTML coding, it was really easy to figure out.”

Because BlueJeansCable.com carries more than 5,000 items for sale, Kurt appreciated the simplicity of PayPal’s system. “It’s incredibly convenient…with the ease of downloading the Add to Cart button code to my website. And I had the Shopping Cart buttons up and running inside an hour.”
Read the BlueJeansCable.com case study

PayPal Makes Fulfillment Simple

Floyd Hacker of FlashlightsUnlimited.com

As a one-man operation, Floyd had to create efficient workflows for order processing and fulfillment. Because of PayPal’s flexibility, it fit neatly into Floyd’s processes.“My website is run strictly from the PayPal Shopping Cart. When the notification emails from PayPal come through for individual purchases, I highlight, copy, and paste that data right into my database, postal management software, and vendor orders.”

In contrast, Dan feels the chargeback process through merchant accounts ties his hands. “When there’s a chargeback through my merchant account provider, a letter comes in the mail weeks later and I’m given very little information. This leaves me with very few options.”

With this system, it takes Floyd about three to five minutes to process a typical order. The vast majority of his orders drop-ship directly from his vendors. So once this process is finished, his work is done. And, since his customers key in the orders, his error rate with order entry and shipping addresses “is virtually zero.”
Read the FlashlightsUnlimited.com case study

Dan Pritchett of LowCarbChocolates.com

Working with a programmer, Dan added a PayPal Shopping Cart to his website and used PayPal’s email notification to streamline the fulfillment process.

“It turned out to be a fantastic way to run the business. I set up my confirmation emails [acknowledging purchases and payments] to automatically forward to my fulfillment company.All they have to do is grab the invoice, print it out, cut and paste the address, make a shipping label, slap it on the package, and the package goes out the door.”

Plus, PayPal helps Dan automate the customer service function. “Customers receive a confirmation email from PayPal, so I don’t have to worry about assuring them that their order has been received. This way, we’re both happy.”

While Dan has since added an internet merchant account and gateway to both support his phone-order business and provide additional online payment options, PayPal remains a central part of his online business. “The only reason I could even consider starting a business like LowCarbChocolates.com was because of PayPal.”
Read the LowCarbChocolates.com case study

Kurt Denke of BlueJeansCable.com

As a three-person operation, Blue Jeans Cable needs to be efficient. Between the website and PayPal, they’ve been able to automate the entire order-entry process.

“We’ve set up our incoming email to flag PayPal transactions that come in, and direct them to a printer,” says Kurt.“We literally take our orders out of a printer drawer all day long and put them in queue for processing.

“The beauty of PayPal is that it can be totally automated.The email comes in with the list of the shopping cart contents and a confirmation that the payment has been made. We’re free to spend our time fulfilling orders.”

But getting products out the door is only part of the work of an online business. Bookkeeping and sales forecasting need to get done as well. BlueJeansCable.com uses PayPal’s reporting tools to quickly and efficiently manage the financial side of their business.

“We regularly consult our online Merchant Sales Report. We also use the Download History function to bring the transaction data into MS Excel and do some analysis—what we took in and what we’ve paid in fees.”
Read the BlueJeansCable.com case study

PayPal's Reporting Tools Keep Businesses On Track

Marla CIlley of FlyLady.Net

Marla’s team at FlyLady was able to implement a PayPal Buy Now button for their site’s shop in less than an hour. Using PayPal’s built-in reporting tools, Marla quickly designed a fulfillment process for her operation.

Every day, Marla’s staff logs on to PayPal to download their transaction history into their own desktop software. Then, they quickly parse and sort the data to create sheets of shipping labels that double as packing slips. “In the summer, we’ll process 700 - 800 labels in a single download and average 200orders per day,” Marla says.

These label sheets are then sent to the warehouse, where employees pull together orders based on package type, instead of one order at a time. “It’s really quite an efficient process,” Marla says.

Marla uses PayPal to monitor daily sales and business trends. “We get an email for every order that comes in, and I can quickly get a good feel for our sales just by watching the email volume.”

And with PayPal’s reporting tools, Marla is able to look at overall sales history and spot historical trends. “I pull reports and have them broken down by month so I can look back and compare the number of orders [for the same time period].”
Read the FlyLady.net case study

Dan Pritchett of LowCarbChocolates.com

For any business, dealing with tax-related paperwork can be exhausting. With PayPal, Dan manages the process easily.

“One of PayPal’s features that’s very important to me is the ability to run sales reports by state. With this report, at year-end, I can break out which sales were in my state so I can report Washington state B&O (business and occupation) taxes.

“This is a great feature that I can’t get with my credit card processing company. PayPal’s reporting is just really solid.”
Read the LowCarbChocolates.com case study

With PayPal, Subscriptions Are No Problem

Tim Schuler of Rotowire.com

With PayPal’s subscription payments process—which gives subscribers the option to automatically renew—RotoWire.com has been able to retain customers. When a RotoWire subscription is set to expire, PayPal sends the subscriber an automated email that notifies them of the pending expiration, and gives them a means to renew with just a few clicks. This convenient feature has already significantly raised RotoWire.com’s renewal rates.

“PayPal works really well for our diehards. It’s like their cable bill...they just get the email, renew, and they’re very happy. Seasonal subscribers are happy with the service and there’s no hassle when their subscription comes to an end. Just a ‘thank you.’”

By accepting payments through PayPal, RotoWire.com is in the enviable position of never having to wait for outstanding receivables. However, it’s still crucial for Tim to follow the overall sales trends and review historical data. “I use PayPal’s Merchant Sales Report at the end of each month so I’m able to account for everything going on.” Additionally, Tim downloads each month’s transaction data into his desktop software to create custom reports with PayPal’s Monthly Account Statements.
Read the RotoWire.com case study