GoDaddy and Worldpay Launch Commerce 360 for Small Business Payments

GoDaddy and Worldpay say they want to help small businesses accept payments across any channel.

To that end, the two companies announced Wednesday (March 1) they have teamed up to launch Commerce 360, a tool that streamlines selling, whether online or in-store, while offering insights to improve the customer experience.

The companies say the tool combines GoDaddy’s “omnicommerce” solutions with the payments tools provided by Worldpay.

“Commerce 360 is an all-in-one omnichannel solution that allows small businesses to accept payments in any channel,” Worldpay parent FIS said in a news release. 

“With a custom, curated website and merchant dashboard, small retailers will be able to sell (on-the-go) at events through online marketplaces, as well as through social media. Its efficient setup will also allow merchants to be up and running quickly.”

Making checkout more efficient is crucial at a time when — per research by PYMNTS — a vast majority of consumers say a satisfying checkout experience is a major factor in determining whether or not they return to a given merchant.

“If you look at the checkout process today, it’s a big point of friction,” Karma Co-founder and CEO Jonathan Friedman told PYMNTS last year.

“You need to put in your input, you need to sign up, you need to add your credit or debit card, which is why [merchants] still experience around 75% shopping cart abandonment,” he noted.

In other words, friction can be deadly — at least when it comes to sales — whether that means delayed processing speeds, merchants asking for too much identifying information, or difficulty applying discount codes to orders.

PYMNTS research with Checkout.com — as reported in “Building A Better Online Checkout Experience: The Key Features That Matter To Customers” — showed that nearly three-quarters of consumers used their preferred purchase method in their latest online checkout.

Last month, FIS said it was restructuring to create two separate entities, FIS and Worldpay. Speaking during an earnings call, CEO Stephanie Ferris talked about the rationale behind the revamp:

“The pace of disruption and payments is rapidly accelerating, requiring increased investment for growth and a different capital allocation strategy for our merchant business.”

And though the two entities will be separate, the chief executive insisted there will be “a close commercial partnership to deliver critical capabilities like embedded finance and loyalty through premium payback,” which is the company’s POS system that also features loyalty programs.

“Both companies will be market leaders in their own right and by forging a commercial relationship together we can affect a superior outcome as compared to keeping them together,” said Ferris, who added that “Worldpay operates in a more dynamic and disruptive end market relative to heritage FIS with more of a growth focus.”