With October’s Prime Day fast approaching, Amazon is taking advantage of the online shopping hype by adding a new payment feature for customers in the US. Now, when shopping at an online store that has a Buy with Prime button, you can also use PayPal to complete your purchase.
What Is Buy With Prime?
Amazon launched Buy With Prime for US shoppers in 2022, which introduced an Application Programming Interface (API) to participating online retailers. The Buy with Prime button essentially allows shoppers to purchase items outside of Amazon using their Prime accounts. In other words, you can buy a polo shirt directly from IZOD and still get that sweet, sweet 2-day shipping—along with any other benefits that come with Amazon Prime. Plus, Amazon will do the legwork of sharing your stored address with the vendor so you don’t have to enter it all manually.
You Can Now Use PayPal When Checking Out With Prime
Now, Amazon has made things even easier with a PayPal payment feature. According to the program’s VP, as quoted today in Amazon’s press release, the Buy with Prime checkout option has already helped “sellers attract new shoppers with the convenient, fast, and predictable experience they expect from Amazon.” The new capability with PayPal only “adds to the momentum.”
To use PayPal alongside Buy with Prime, just look for the blue Buy with Prime button at a participating online store. This will automatically log you in to your Amazon Prime account, and bring you to a screen that displays the address associated with that account. Select Verify or add a payment method, and you should see PayPal as one of those methods.
At the time of writing, I did not see PayPal in my list of payment options. However, as this is a brand new rollout in the US, it’s probable that the feature is still being implemented.
Where Can You Buy With Prime?
While the new PayPal update will certainly enhance the experience of using a Prime account to buy from a third-party seller, there still aren’t a huge number of merchants out there offering Buy with Prime. Some of the larger participating vendors include bareMinerals, IZOD, and Dollar Shave Club. However, the program is still in its early phases.
Maybe, with additions like PayPal payment, both customers and vendors will be more drawn to the program and its popularity will increase. Will we see a Prime button takeover of all online shopping, or will this be a passing fad? Only time will tell. All I know is: added convenience when it comes to online shopping could be a dangerous game for me and my wallet. Luckily, there are ways to avoid handing all of your money to an online store.
