Apple Pay is less than six months old, and already it’s taking over the mobile payment world. The latest convert? Early adopter Staples, which announced yesterday that it is already seeing 30 percent of all purchases made through its iOS app made using Apple Pay.
“Right now it’s the number one payment method for us in our iOS apps,” said Prat Vemana, vice president of mobile commerce for the stationary company, speaking during a panel discussion hosted in Seattle on Tuesday.
While it may seem obvious that people using an iOS app would pay using Apple’s solution, this is in stark contrast with the situation for Android users. Although Staples app usage is split equally between iOS and Android, a whopping 70 percent of mobile revenue comes from Apple users, despite the existence of Google’s rival Google Wallet technology.
“The question is, is it demographic?” Vemana said. “What is it about Android that those users are hesitant about payments? The question is still open.”
While Apple Pay has proved a triumph for app-based payments, however, Apple Pay still hasn’t cracked the top three types of purchase made within physical Staples stores — despite a “healthy” number of people using it.
That may be down to Staples itself, however. A reader comment appearing on FierceMobileIT describes how Staples’ in-store Apple Pay experience is “abysmal by their own doing,” requiring signatures for any amount, along with a confirmation of name and address — even when showing a Staples Reward Card. “I still use Apple Pay at Staples because of security but they do know how to make it a joyless experience,” the user writes.
In other words, could it be that this is less a learning curve for in-store users and more for those running Staples?
