I'm wondering if anybody can give me some insight into whether Google Checkout helps increase sales.  What are the pros and cons? thanks

I have received a number of orders through Google Checkout however it is not worth the pain. Every time I receive an order from someone using Google Checkout, I have to manually enter their order in the Americommerce system. The system has not once transferred the order into the management console. Sometimes, the Item number exists in the Google Checkout screen and other times it does not. Overall, this has been a very negative process.

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mouseshop, 

So, basically what you are saying is that if you did not manually put the orders into Americommerce you would have your customer order database spread between to locations.  I agree that could be a real pain. Do you think the customers who bought from you through Google would have gone to a competitor if you did not have it?  Also, do you know what percentage are using it?  Also are you using adwords and offsetting some of the costs?

Thanks for your help.

I believe the only reason people use it on my site is because Google Checkout is on the page before other payment options. They see the Credit Card Logos and think they need to click on the Google Checkout to use a credit card. I do not think it has driven additional traffic to my site or increased my sales. I think all of thecustomers would have gone to the next page and checked out with their credit card.

 Several people have complained about the Google Checkout process and said it makes my checkout process very uncomfortable. Some received abandoned order notifications from the Americommerce software and were very confused. I would recommend using it until Americommerce works out all the bugs. On a number of occasions it did not charge shipping. About half of those customers cancelled oders when I contacted them (they thought I was trying to scam them) the other half were unhappy and confused but continued on with the orders.

 The strange thing is that when I have to manually add the orders to my site, the customers information is in the customer database, the order just does not carry over like it is supposed to. I think this is still in beta and am sure Americommerce will eventually fix the bugs!

 

I do not do google adwords at this time, however I am stopping my advertising with Thomasnet and will begin spending more money on adwords to offset the cost of using google checkout. I think it will be money well spent.

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Thanks for the info.  I think I will just put it on the back burner for now.

Mike Poindexter
DHC Supplies, Inc

 

Mike,

Answer to your question: Yes, Google Checkout increases sales. I love GoogleCheckout. I have been using it now for a good 2 months, and I have seen some good sales activity. If you use Google Base, then this is a DEFINITE advantage. Keep in mind that Google Checkout is still in beta as far as Americommerce goes. Personally, my Google Checkout works very well. Granted the orders are not coming through and they do have to be put in manually, but as with anything in beta, there is always going to be something that is not ideal. Personally, I don't mind the extra clicks, the increase in sales justifies it.

On my sites I use a constantly visible shopping cart that is on the right column of each website. I wanted a constantly visible one page checkout cart so my customers can view the contents of their cart at all times, regardless of navigation. I took advantage of this outstanding feature, and  right underneath the right column shopping cart snap in, I placed a custom html snap in, and that is where the Google Checkout merge code/option (##GOOGLECHECKOUT##) is. Customers that want to use Google Checkout just need to click on the link and they are done, customers who want to use regular checkout, just click on the Checkout link on the cart. The communication between the Americommerce cart and Google Checkout is flawless, the taxes come through fine, as does the customer's shipping info. So far the only thing that needs to be fixed is the recording of the order into the Americommerce back end.

 
It is important to understand how Google Checkout works. First of all, it will always be a separate entity. This has nothing to do with Americommerce, and everything to do with Google and what their requirements are. Google mandates that the customer NOT sign or register to complete the purchase. This presents a problem for all e-commerce solutions, because it is totally the opposite as far as customary shopping cart function is concerned. Personally I wanted Google Checkout to be part of the Payment Method drop down, where Google Checkout would be an option along with Amex, MC, Visa, Discover, and PayPal, but that will never be the case. If you visit Buy.com or any of the other sites that accept and have been accepting Google Checkout, you will note that Google Checkout is a separate link on each product! I think that as far as Google Checkout goes, the Americommerce system is the best as far as integration goes. What a nightmare it would be if you had to add a Google Checkout link to each product. The Snap IN module does a nice job of eliminating all that extra programming, furthermore you don't have an add to cart button and a Google Checkout button on each product page. If you compare a product page on Buy.com and one on mine, mine is much cleaner, and better defined, which avoids confusing the customer, particularly those that do not use Google Checkout.

 
The Google Checkout back end gives you a nice order processing section, where you can batch the order, enter your tracking number, as well as the tracking URL. In addtion, Google Checkout also allows you to download your orders into a .csv file. My question is, can this file be uploaded into Americommerce? I haven't asked that question yet, perhaps Chris, who is Americommerce's Google Checkout Guru, might chime in and answer that. That may be an option until Google Checkout is moved from beta.

 
I have been using Google Checkout for my personal shopping, I really like it, it's fast. Another great feature is that Google sends out Customer Satisfaction surveys after each purchase, which is great. I like surveys, it helps with future sales. Also, when you accept Google Checkout and that registers on Google Base, you also get listed under stores that accept Google Checkout, which is yet, another great link to have pointing to your store.

 
I am all for Google Checkout.

 
Here is something else to think about. I can't tell you how many people shop from their blackberries, but as far as ease of purchase goes, Google Checkout is ideal for that environment. I haven't considered a .mob version of my site, but that is something that may be significant in the future.
 

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Best Regards,
Louis
TackleToyStore.com

Louis,

Thanks for the good info.  You would think Americommerce could create a .csv import that would convert or match the Google checkout fields fairly easily if people requested it.  Then it would be fairly easy to do a batch import of the Google Checkout orders once a day.  I just started using Google base and quite frankly that is what got me thinking about their checkout.

Mike 

Anyone who is still having the issue with orders not showing up in their admin for Google Checkout needs to put in a support request to be rolled up to the latest version that fixes this issue.  There is a fix available.

Google's policies are very rigid regarding button placement and such, and anyone looking at implementing Google Checkout should be familiar with the policies (available at: http://checkout.google.com/seller/policies.html).  Google Checkout cannot be displayed like a payment method on a checkout page, and must be implemented as a completely separate checkout process.  With the way this particular API works, there is a lot of communication going on back and forth between the store and Google's servers, and due to the nature of web traffic, there is room for error.  To give you a rough example, so that you can better understand Google Checkout, here's basically how it works:

• Customer adds items to the cart on your site that they want to purchase.
• All of the information in the cart is sent over to Google in XML format, and the customer is redirected.  Note, we have no customer information, so we can't calculate shipping yet - but they expect default rates. This is one of the "gotcha" points.  To get around this, we're requesting the zip code, but this is not a suggested way to do it (Google discourages this).
  
• Once the customer is on Google's site, Google Checkout then makes a request back to the store for shipping, only giving the customer's "anonymous address," which consists of city, state, and zip code.  The only other information we get in this request is the shipping method's name - no cart information.  And there is only a 3 second window per method to return the information (that Google has said themselves can't be changed), so if there is internet lag for any reason, one or more of these can fail.
• Once the customer has set their shipping method and clicked the checkout button, the order is placed, and a notification is sent to the store.  The problem mentioned before was occurring at this point as well, which was during our verification process.  We were attempting to verify that the cart matched the items in the cart before the customer left the store.  The fix turns this around, and rebuilds the cart using the items that Google says they purchased.

 

I apologize again for any issues that you have had while using Google Checkout, but there have been consistent warnings about the potential issues with the beta.  There are still some things that we would like to see resolved, such as being able to set default rates for when those shipping requests do fail.

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Chris Allen
Software Developer
AmeriCommerce

I am happy to see that there is a fix for this. I am not sure why Google would discourage the zip code, this info has to be provided for shipping purposes. Google checked out my sites when I setup both accounts, so I know they have seen it, but to date, they haven't said anything.

As far as shipping goes: so far, shipping has come through just fine, on this end. I guess if it for some reason doesn't, I would have to email the customer and give them the shipping details. Google Checkout does have a way to send a request for payment. I just have to see if it is on the order processing area.

 Chris, with regards to the API and XML formats, does PayPal process an order like Google? These two methods are quite similiar as far as the actual steps the customer takes to place an order.

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Best Regards,
Louis
TackleToyStore.com

What it looks like to the customer is where the similarity ends.  Behind the scenes they are two totally different things.

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Chris Allen
Software Developer
AmeriCommerce

Got it.

Well, let me know what you need from me to get the ball rolling with that fix. I am anxious to start getting my Google Checkout orders via the admin panel.

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Best Regards,
Louis
TackleToyStore.com