SitDown. StartUp.

I’ve been using the Google Checkout API for The College Shack, an e-commerce site I founded during my freshman year of college (I oversee operations and strategy, but I’m not actively involved). I’ve recently been having second thoughts on the effectiveness of Google Checkout. I’m having trouble seeing the real value proposition for my customers and if its had any positive affect on my ROI.

I initially did the integration because I felt that the brand recognition and ubiquitousness of Google would help push through more orders through checkout (Mintel 2009 reports that 28% of people cited sharing personal information online was a reason for not shopping online).

So I did some analysis and I’ve come up with some 3 major critiques on GCheckout and why I will probably remove the API integration:

1. Poor Integration of Google Checkout with existing e-commerce site and platform. 

The integration of Google Checkout is pretty poor and not that robust. If a customer purchases on my site with Google Checkout, I don’t retain any customer information in my CRM/e-commerce platform and database that I would with a sale processed through my gateway.  There is also no way to offer opt-in email newsletters and no way to integrate the Google Checkout sale with my sales reports and ROI tracking.

Another problem is that Google checkout is a 100% email driven communication process. Therefore emails are communicated anonymously for many customers (ecommerce site gets an automated google checkout receipt and so does the customer). More importantly, Users are often confused on how to interact with the originating e-commerce site since they never login to that site. 

In some cases emails are communicated anonymously for many customers. I don’t have control with how Google communicates with my customer post-sale. Therefore, I typically have to type up and send a manual email to the customer with USPS/UPS tracking information and other marketing/customer service messages. Not fun.

Even further…..If someone initiates a chargeback and you miss the automated email, you’re S-o-L. (you receive a message from Google that says you have 24 hours to respond; miss this email and you’re screwed).

2. The shipping integration is absolutely terrible

Do you use Pitney Bowes for fulfillment and shipping? Do you have an automated system that integrates completed transactions to your shipping/fulfillment center? Well throw those systems out the window because Google Checkout API does not offer a full scale integration with your existing system. Get ready to utilize your fingers for some serious Cmd+C/Cmd+V for emailing tracking/shipping/invoice information to your customers.

3. No difference in Google Adwords ROI 

I integrated Google Checkout into my Google Adwords campaign in late 2007, however since 2007-2010, I haven’t seen any increase in my Adwords conversion rates and ROI since integration. College Shack sells niche collegiate headwear and although we have minimal traffic on our site, our conversion rates are extremely high due to a loyal customer base and our exclusive product availability. However, my conversion rates on Adwords have remained stagnant since the integration. I believe the reasons here are simple: people don’t click on ads and search ads do not offend (display ads are annoying and distracting) but they are invisible to most who search the web.

62% of people (according to Mintel) cannot tell the difference between “natural” and paid listings on an internet search. Even among those who can tell the difference, fewer than one in three say they never click on paid ad listings, and only one in three think the “natural” listings are always better. 

So a Google Checkout integration with adwords doesn’t seem to make much sense for encouraging a purchase decision when people are not fully aware of these ads in the first place.

Conclusion: Google Checkout makes sense if you are starting your first e-commerce business and want to bypass the painful process of setting up shop with an online processor like Authorize.net/Braintree/First Data/Paypal. But if you have an existing site with a payment gateway, save yourself the stress and keep it simple with your existing system.