New PayPal Survey Reveals Why Online Shoppers Abandon Purchases

High Shipping Costs Top the List; PayPal Introduces New Feature to Help
Merchants Show Total Cost of Purchases Early on in Checkout Process
SAN JOSE, Calif.--(Business Wire)--
A PayPal (NASDAQ:EBAY) survey released today revealed that nearly half (45
percent) of online shoppers have abandoned their carts multiple times in the
past three weeks due to high shipping costs, security concerns and lack of
convenience. The average cost of abandoned goods in U.S. shopping carts is $109.

High shipping costs was cited as the largest single reason for cart abandonment.
While nothing could have prevented one-third of shoppers from abandoning
purchases, the survey found that providing shipping costs upfront might have
caused 40 percent to complete the purchase. To help merchants encourage shoppers
to purchase, PayPal today announced a new Express Checkout feature - the PayPal
Instant Update API. By integrating the new API, merchants can show order details
earlier in the process including shipping options, insurance choices and tax
totals.

"To get shoppers to buy, it`s critical merchants make the checkout experience
easy and costs transparent," said Eddie Davis, senior director of SMB merchant
services, PayPal. "Our new PayPal Instant Update API will help merchants get
customers the information they need upfront to drive sales."

The survey also uncovered signs that the economy still has shoppers wary about
clicking the "purchase" button. More than one-third of respondents abandoned
checkout because they didn`t plan for all of the expenses; while more than 25
percent left the site to search for a coupon. However, one-third of shoppers
later returned to the same site to buy. An additional 20 percent purchased the
items at a brick and mortar store or competitor`s Web site.

"Merchants who don`t welcome back abandoners with open arms are leaving hundreds
of dollars per shopper on the table," added Davis. "Merchants need to remember
the items that customers abandon and make it easy for them to buy when they
return. Sweetening the deal with free shipping, coupons and special discounts is
also a great way to encourage online shoppers to complete their purchases."

Breakdown on Why Shoppers Abandon

At least a fifth of all U.S. survey respondents cited the following as very
important reasons for cart abandonment:

* High shipping charges: 46 percent
* Wanted to comparison shop: 37 percent
* Lack of money: 36 percent
* Wanted to look for a coupon: 27 percent
* Wanted to shop offline: 26 percent
* Couldn`t find preferred pay option: 24 percent
* Item was unavailable at checkout: 23 percent
* Couldn`t find customer support: 22 percent
* Concerned about security of credit card data: 21 percent

About the survey

The PayPal Checkout Abandonment Study was conducted by comScore among active
shoppers who had recently abandoned a shopping cart. In the United States 553
people participated between May 12-15, 2009. All respondents were asked about
their most recent abandoned session, regardless of the site involved.

About PayPal

PayPal is the faster, safer way to pay and get paid online. The service allows
members to send money without sharing financial information, with the
flexibility to pay using their account balances, bank accounts, credit cards or
promotional financing. With more than 73 million active accounts in 190 markets
and 19 currencies around the world, PayPal enables global ecommerce. PayPal is
an eBay company and is made up of three leading online payment services: the
PayPal global payments platform, the Payflow Gateway, and Bill Me Later. More
information about the company can be found at https://www.paypal.com.

PayPal
Anuj Nayar, 408-967-5730
anayar@paypal.com
or
Access Communications for PayPal
Lindsay Scalisi, 415-844-6217
lscalisi@accesspr.com

Copyright Business Wire 2009