In the past month, there has been a great deal of excitement around the new iPhone 7 and Apple Watch Series 2. Surprisingly, many have overlooked a major new feature that Apple is rolling out for both devices: Apple Pay. This new contact payment technology is the company’s latest solution to support ecommerce brands and retailers by converting more mobile traffic into customers.

According to MediaPost, the average mobile conversion rate is only 2%, versus 4% for desktop. Moz found similar results in 2015 when it reported that the average conversion rate was only 1.8% for desktop, .61% for mobile, and 1.37% for tablets. Larger screens continue to play a role in simplifying the checkout process, due to larger virtual keyboards—or more accessible ones. In all, Moz found that mobile traffic also accounted for 26% of all traffic, but only resulted in 10% of all revenue.

According to payment processor Stripe, apps supporting Apple Pay have seen increases in checkout conversions as much as 2.5% higher than those without it. Indiegogo saw conversions increase by up to 250% when customers used Apple Pay to fund campaigns, and Instacart’s customers completed the checkout process 58% faster with Apple Pay than with other payment methods.

Currently available to those with iOS devices and Macs supporting the latest operating version, Sierra, Apple Pay is secure and reduces the steps in a buyer’s journey. Rather than inputting financial information, Apple Pay uses a tokenized system that reduces possible fraud in the event of data breaches. (No PCI data is transmitted through Apple Pay purchases.)

When a customer uses a supported device with Touch ID or Apple Watch and a brand has enabled the feature, that customer will see the option for Apple Pay. From there, the customer will confirm which payment option he or she would like to use, verify the shipping address, and confirm the purchase. Apple does not charge customers, merchants, or developers for the use of Apple Pay.

Pros and Cons to Apple Pay for Merchants

Platforms Supporting Apple Pay For the Web

As Apple Pay for the web starts to roll out, each platform will have a different way of allowing merchants to add the payment option to their site. Regardless of platform, Apple has made a variety of resources available in an effort to enable merchants to add it in with development support; however, some platforms made it a bit easier than others.

In an announcement made earlier this month, Commerce Cloud (formerly Demandware) stated that it not only supports Apple Pay for the web, but that it’s a simple process to add it in.

Commerce Cloud is building Apple Pay support directly into the Demandware Commerce Cloud, enabling its clients to quickly take advantage of the benefits without hours of development time. Merchants can implement the feature through simple configuration. It’s literally a “check-the-box” feature.

Although Magento does not directly Support Apple Pay for the web, it does integrate with Stripe. For those using both Magento and Stripe, there will be an easy integration process. Shopify and IBM ecommerce platforms also now support Apple Pay for the web.

Supported Devices

For merchants evaluating whether or not it makes sense to offer Apple Pay, a good starting point is web traffic. Browsers on the following devices now support Apple Pay for the web: iPhone 6, iPhone 6S, iPhone 7, iPad Mini 3, iPad Pro, and iPad Air 2. Apple Pay will also be support Mac computers that were created after 2012 running macOS Sierra.

Apple Pay Across the Globe

Apple Pay is currently supported in eight countries, which now support web-based payments as well. The following countries support Apple Pay as of September 2016:

1.     Australia
2.     Canada
3.     Switzerland
4.     France
5.     Singapore
6.     Canada
7.     UK
8.     Hong Kong
9.     U.S.

Technical Details

Because each ecommerce brand has its own unique set of purchasing requirements, be it a physical, digital, or subscription purchase,  merchants can trim even more off the payment sheet. The payment sheet is what appears after selecting “Pay with Apple Pay,” and will present up to three options: card selector, shipping address, and contact information (billing information). Besides selecting a card, shipping and contact information can be trimmed depending on the purchase type. This can further clean up the process and optimize the checkout process.