1Will Starritt, Urban Rider, 2026
Urban Rider is an independent motorcycle apparel retailer based in London. Co-founders Will Starritt and Andrew Suenson-Taylor started the company in 2007 and have since built up an expert-led brand with a London store and two ecommerce storefronts. Urban Rider is tailored to custom and heritage motorcycle enthusiasts, while Adventure Rider serves touring and off-road adventurers.
They sell a highly curated product offering, and back up their range of gear with in-store specialists and customer-first digital content, including hands-on video reviews and tried-and-tested size guides.
In recent years, they’ve become a one-stop destination for motorcyclists both online and offline: their ecommerce presence has only gone from strength to strength, and they’ve more than doubled their bricks-and-mortar footprint. PayPal has been by their side for much of that journey.
“If you’re not offering PayPal Pay Later, I think you’re missing out on a big trend in how people shop.”
Will Starritt, Founder, Urban Rider
Urban Rider sells premium motorcycle gear to riders who really care about their kit. These are considered purchases, not impulse buys. A new jacket, helmet, or pair of boots can start in the hundreds of pounds, and a full set of high-end gear will regularly take a basket into four figures.
Selling that kind of gear online demands two things of the payment experience. Shoppers need to trust the checkout when they’re placing a big-ticket order. And they need higher prices to feel manageable, because they’re weighing what they can budget well before they press “Buy Now.”
That’s why Urban Rider needed a payment platform that helped with both: a checkout that shoppers recognise and trust, and an integrated flexible payments option that highlights the ability to spread the cost early.
PayPal has been part of Urban Rider’s online store since 2012. What started as a way to remove friction at checkout has since grown into something broader.
When they first added PayPal Checkout, the need was straightforward. Shoppers were wary of entering card details online and that hesitation was costing the business sales. PayPal gave customers a recognised, trusted way to pay without exposing sensitive information, and it brought in buyers who might not have completed the purchase otherwise.
“What PayPal offered us was a way of giving maximum protection to those customers,” says Will. “It was removing barriers to purchase.”
That trust has only compounded. PayPal Checkout handles more than a quarter of Urban Rider’s online sales, a share that has grown steadily over almost 15 years. In that time, PayPal has evolved into its modern-day checkout solution; Urban Rider has grown into a 2026 success story.
With PayPal Pay in 3 built into PayPal Checkout with no extra fees or additional setup, Urban Rider’s visitors can use the flexible payment option as part of the familiar checkout flow. They get to split eligible purchases into three interest-free payments, with the first taken at checkout – a £200 helmet becomes three manageable payments rather than one outlay, and Urban Rider still gets paid in full upfront. PayPal then manages credit checks and customer repayments.
Six months ago, Urban Rider also began highlighting Pay in 3 instalment messaging and the PayPal Pay Later button earlier in the customer journey – specifically on their product pages.
This was a considered move. Will describes a subconscious checklist shoppers run while they’re browsing: check the price, delivery options, payment flexibility. By the time customers have reached the basket, they’ve already made their mind up on spreading the cost. “Payment flexibility lets people make considered purchases they otherwise would have stepped back from,” Will says.
The native Magento integration let the team place messaging where it works best for their site, and PayPal’s best-practice guidance left enough flexibility for Urban Rider to optimise around its own customer journey. For shoppers unfamiliar with the option, Will keeps the explanation plain. “There are no interest charges or fees for the customer,” he says. “It just helps to soften their cash flow.”
For Urban Rider, PayPal plays an active role in how shoppers commit to a purchase.
PayPal Checkout helps bring them in and earn their trust, with over 25% of Urban Rider’s online sales now run through the platform.
PayPal Pay Later helps them act on higher-value gear they might otherwise stall on. Since making Pay Later the most visible flexible payment option around six months ago, Urban Rider has seen an 8% uplift in conversion rate, Pay Later orders also tend to be around 20% higher than standard PayPal orders, and almost 30% of PayPal transactions now use a Pay Later option.
Co-founders Will and Andrew see that same checkout foundation supporting what comes next: as they look to grow Urban Rider beyond the UK, PayPal can help make buying as straightforward for international riders as it does at home.
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