Challenge

Woo aims to offer e-commerce solutions that can grow alongside a client’s business, whether it’s a brand new company or a massive enterprise. Woo supports 9.1% of all websites. In 2020, Woo launched WooPayments, which gives these millions of businesses a way to unify their payments, track revenue, and manage transaction data – all from their Woo dashboard.

The following year, Woo enhanced WooPayments with Stripe Terminal, a set of tools for accepting in-person payments. Using Terminal’s APIs, SDKs, and pre-certified card readers, Woo could offer its users a flexible in-person payment solution that unified the online and in-person shopping experience.

Although card readers work well for many of Woo’s customers, the company recognised that traditional payment hardware can take time to order and set up. Some of Woo’s customers are small, local vendors – farmers, jewellers, and other artists – who need a simpler way to manage a small volume of transactions.

“One of my favourite customers I’ve spoken to is an experienced quilter,” said Doug Aitken, payments operations manager at Woo. “She’s sold online for years using Woo, but it was difficult when someone saw something online and wanted to pick it up in store. They would come in, she would have to make up a new order, and change the stock manually.”

Woo wanted to offer this customer, and others like her, a hardware-free solution for accepting in-person payments that connect to their online store. The company started searching for a solution that would allow businesses to take in-person contactless payments using the smartphones in their pockets, saving these customers the time and cost associated with investing in new hardware. Woo also wanted to deliver its new solution quickly, which meant this hardware-free option needed to be easy to implement.

Solution

Woo opted to enable Tap to Pay on iPhone via the Stripe Terminal SDK to give its customers the ability to accept in-person payments with only a compatible iPhone and without any added external hardware. Woo implemented Tap to Pay on iPhone directly in the Woo app to provide a faster way for businesses to unify online and in-person payments with minimal development resources – and without the time and cost associated with ordering a card reader.

“With Tap to Pay on iPhone, our users have one solution that’s fully integrated, omnichannel, and provides flexibility to both merchants and their customers,” Aitken said.

These businesses can now offer a more flexible shopping experience that syncs between online and in-person purchases using Tap to Pay on iPhone. With that support, they can set up shop at events such as farmers' markets, pop-ups, and street fairs to sell their products just as easily as they can online – and customers who wish to buy online and pick up in store can easily do so.

“Our users want to offer their customers more options to shop and pay – how and where they want. Being able to anticipate our users’ needs is important to us, and Tap to Pay on iPhone is invaluable in staying ahead of what our customers want,” said Julia Callicrate, senior product marketing manager at Woo.

Results

2-minute average time to enable Tap to Pay on iPhone

With Tap to Pay on iPhone built directly into the Woo app, users can download the Woo app, launch a store, and deploy Tap to Pay on iPhone in as little as two minutes. “Being able to accept a payment so soon after signing up for Woo takes so many steps out of the equation and makes it so anyone with an iPhone can get a business started in minutes,” Aitken said.

Less than 24 hours of developer time to integrate Tap to Pay on iPhone with the Woo app

Speed and ease of use are important for Woo’s customers, but also for Woo’s ability to scale as a company. During a company hackathon, a single engineer was able to use Stripe’s developer-friendly documentation to integrate Tap to Pay on iPhone and the Stripe Terminal SDK with WooPayments in less than a day.

30% monthly Tap to Pay on iPhone user growth rate

Woo has seen 30% monthly growth in Tap to Pay on iPhone’s use since its launch, and business adoption rates continue to climb. Some of the company’s most prominent users are small- to medium-sized businesses ranging from vendors at farmers' markets to service providers, such as TV or car radio installers and bespoke jewellers.

“For these new users, it’s all about accessibility,” Aitken said. “Starting a business can feel daunting, but Woo – together with Tap to Pay on iPhone and the Stripe Terminal SDK – makes it easy to start up and sell stuff. Do you have an iPhone? Great. Download the Woo app, make an account, and now you’re a merchant.”

60% of in-person transactions are through iPhones when businesses enable Tap to Pay on iPhone

By offering business owners a unified payment experience with Tap to Pay on iPhone, Woo has opened its e-commerce solution to businesses that depend on simple in-person payments. Customers who have access to Tap to Pay on iPhone now process 60% of their in-person payments on iPhones instead of traditional terminal hardware. These makers and artisans are able to offer a quick, smooth experience, and can track both in-person and online transaction data in a single Dashboard.

“With Terminal SDK and Tap to Pay on iPhone, customers like our small-business quilter can more easily manage their inventory,” said Aitken. “When someone orders from her online store, they can now choose to pay in person, pick up their quilt from her, and the inventory is synced automatically. That’s the kind of payment experience we want to offer everyone.”