Mastering seamless transitions: A guide to Braintree omnichannel for modern merchants

In today's fragmented commerce landscape, merchants are constantly seeking new ways to streamline transactions and deepen customer engagement. It goes beyond providing an easy checkout process. Retailers must anticipate customers’ needs and deliver exceptional experiences at each touchpoint, every time. Their survival may depend on it.

Understanding omnichannel retailing

Omnichannel retail refers to the process of engaging shoppers and driving sales across channels, including online sites, mobile apps, and brick-and-mortar stores.

So what is an omnichannel strategy? Besides offering checkout at each of these touchpoints, it involves creating a comprehensive experience that spans platforms, helping customers move intuitively through their journeys — no matter where they find your brand.

Customers expect seamless omnichannel experiences. In fact, some don't even differentiate between online and in-person shopping. They want the flexibility to buy online and pick up curbside, pay in person and sign up for an online subscription, or shop in store and receive personalized recommendations on their app.

Upwards of 70% of consumers research and shop both in store and online, according to McKinsey & Company.¹

Still, there are challenges to delivering an effective omnichannel strategy. Retailers need real-time access to cross-channel data to understand each customer's preferences. They also need a unified payment solution to deliver consistent, personalized experiences at each touchpoint.

The role of payment solutions in omnichannel success

A robust payment system is critical for success in omnichannel marketing. Studies show that 47% of global consumers believe flexible payment options for in-person and online purchases are important.² At the same time, 66% of U.S. consumers expect to check out online in four minutes or less. In fact, over 80% have abandoned a purchase because the account registration process was too complicated.³

Here's a closer look at some of the key benefits of a unified commerce solution:

• Increase sales: Capitalize on both online and in-person payments, harnessing opportunities to upsell, cross-sell, and increase average order value.
• Reduce operational costs: Streamline your tech stack and diminish the need to maintain multiple systems. Also, use your solution’s data to optimize marketing spend and operational processes.
• Stay ahead of the competition: With the rapid evolution of retail, businesses risk becoming obsolete if they don't adapt. Use a unified solution to continuously innovate and prepare for future shifts in the commerce landscape.

PayPal Braintree’s omnichannel capabilities

Modern merchants can leverage PayPal Braintree to achieve seamless and unified payment experiences across channels — online, mobile, and in person. With a unified, end-to-end payment platform, retailers can gather data and insights from customer transactions in one place.

They can then use this data to optimize their sales and engagement strategies and deliver personalized solutions at each touchpoint. Studies show PayPal can help increase checkout conversions by an average of 33% with large enterprise merchants.⁴

Powered by PayPal Braintree, you can meet your customers where they shop with preferred payment methods, including cards, digital wallets, PayPal, and Venmo. Businesses can also securely store each person’s payment information with a PCI-compliant vault, enabling customers to make repeat purchases, subscribe to memberships, and check out.

By continuously innovating to drive omnichannel experiences, PayPal Braintree helps businesses remain agile and responsive to their customers’ needs.

Braintree integration

It’s easy to integrate PayPal Braintree into different sales channels — including online, in-store, and mobile platforms. PayPal provides a diverse range of hardware and software solutions to help merchants create a unified commerce experience. Here are some highlights:

• Fixed card readers: Make it easy for customers to enter their payment information, subscribe to loyalty programs, sign receipts, and more.
• Mobile card readers: Help customers check out almost anywhere in your store and reduce wait times with a portable card reader.
• Braintree Payment app: Drive and manage all UI and UX interactions from one place.
• Braintree GraphQL API: Integrate your POS or other payment software with our card readers for seamless communication between devices.
• Braintree SDK: Integrate “card not present” customer journeys for all channels, including e-commerce platforms, order management systems, and call centers.

You can also choose your integration path with our flexible developer tools, including:

• Client SDK: For Android, iOS, and JavaScript.
• Server SDK: For Java, .NET, Node.js, PHP, Python, and Ruby.
• GraphQL API: Use almost any programming language you want without having to update an SDK.
• Drop-in or custom UI: Create a secure, compliant, and customized checkout experience that fits your business.

As you’re getting started, use this step-by-step guide to begin implementing Braintree across platforms:

• Internally share how PayPal Braintree can deliver seamless, tailored customer experiences across platforms.
• Provide a sandbox environment to start testing unique use cases.
• Integrate PayPal Braintree into your systems.
• Begin accepting transactions using the platform.
• Conduct a post-transaction analysis of data and insights.
• Use those insights to optimize sales strategies at each touchpoint.
• Repeat the cycle, enhancing customer experiences and boosting sales with each loop.

Best practices for holistic retailers

Holistic retailers can use these actionable tips and best practices to master seamless transitions with PayPal Braintree:

• Create a unified view of each shopper: Gather data to build a comprehensive view of each customer. This can allow merchants to understand their shoppers’ behaviors, preferences, and interactions at each touchpoint. With these insights, retailers can better customize experiences to people’s needs and drive sales.
• Delight customers with personalized offers: Proactively unify commerce by offering omnichannel experiences at checkout. For example, when someone buys an item online, recommend similar products they can pick up sooner in store. If someone is shopping in person, invite them to get pre-approved for a buy, now, pay later purchase on your app.
• Maintain compliance every step of the way: As the commerce landscape shifts, so do compliance standards. PayPal Braintree helps capture, store, and encrypt payment data with a unified, PCI-compliant vault — so businesses can reduce the risk of fraud and meet evolving regulations.

Elevate customer experiences with omnichannel strategies

For modern retailers, it’s no longer sufficient to just facilitate sales. To survive — and thrive — in a rapidly evolving world of commerce, they have to curate tailored experiences for every customer at every touchpoint. Whether shoppers are buying online, in store, or a combination of both, retailers must master seamless transitions between channels to increase revenue and drive business success.

With PayPal Braintree, we're redefining commerce one personalized interaction at a time. This platform provides advanced, omnichannel capabilities to help deepen customer engagement and future-proof your business for a new era of retail.

Learn more about delivering seamless checkout experiences with PayPal Braintree.