Ecommerce company Appliance House was founded to make buying appliances convenient and fast online. To achieve this goal, the merchant prioritizes a smooth, secure checkout experience. When they outgrew their previous website-hosting provider and payment platform, Appliance House moved to a software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution from BigCommerce, an ecommerce solution provider and Amazon Pay partner. Now, the companies have implemented Amazon Pay to help make purchases even faster and easier for Appliance House customers.
Streamlining checkout with Amazon Pay
Founded in 2008, Appliance House is an online appliance retailer that sells a wide range of home and outdoor appliances, from large household machines to small kitchen gadgets and accessories. As the merchant grew in terms of both their customer base and expansion ambitions, they realized they’d outgrown their previous website-hosting solution. With many components built in house, the large amounts of custom code made even small changes tedious and time-consuming. Appliance House thus sought to improve their ability to meet customer expectations and adopt current ecommerce standards.
To make their website more modern, streamlined, and functional, the merchant moved to a new website-hosting solution in 2022: a SaaS product from BigCommerce that removed much of the manual maintenance work and made it simple to implement new ecommerce features. “The BigCommerce SaaS model was appealing as it meant we could concentrate on growing the business further without the stress of our website breaking,” says Chris Reid, Managing Director at Appliance House. “There are plenty of third-party plug-ins that work with it simply by ticking a box rather than spending weeks doing coding and development.”
Appliance House also realized they were missing a major feature that today’s shoppers expect: digital wallets. “We wanted more checkout options that would give customers a frictionless experience, and our previous system was holding us back because we didn’t have many options,” says Reid. “Customers expect support for digital wallets and a real ease of checkout, especially on mobile.” Their previous system hadn’t supported digital wallet payments, whereas BigCommerce’s solution offered Amazon Pay as a built-in capability. Appliance House added the capability in 2023 with a few simple steps. “Connecting BigCommerce to our Amazon account was straightforward,” says Reid. “And the Amazon support team couldn’t have been more helpful. It was good having somebody help with the onboarding.”
Increasing orders in both number and value
BigCommerce’s SaaS solution helped Appliance House update their website with modern enhancements, including fast load times and a seamless, one-page checkout experience. And the merchant has found Amazon Pay to be quick, easy, and trustworthy for their customers, many of whom also shop on Amazon. “Having the Amazon brand on our website reassures customers,” says Reid. “Shopping on Amazon, they feel protected and confident that Amazon has their back, and that translates to Amazon Pay as well.” Instead of manually entering their credit card information, shipping and billing addresses, and other contact details, shoppers can simply click the Amazon Pay button. All their shipping and billing information is then filled in automatically from their Amazon account, and all that’s left to do is place the order.
After implementing Amazon Pay through BigCommerce, Appliance House soon saw a 30% increase in orders. The company’s inventory of large appliances entails a higher average order value (AOV) compared with the rest of the market, and in 2024, that AOV has increased by 10% with the new Amazon Pay checkout option in place. “Average order value can make a real difference,” says Reid. “When we start nudging that up, it really impacts revenue overall.”
The benefits of Amazon Pay apply to both desktop and mobile users. Appliance House has noticed an 11% uptick in mobile purchases since adding the Amazon Pay option. Overall, though, the merchant receives nearly the same number of purchases on desktop and mobile devices. “We’re seeing a pretty even split with mobile and desktop orders, so it’s great to know that Amazon Pay works equally well across multiple devices,” says Reid.
In addition to making the checkout process fast and seamless, Appliance House is delivering a secure purchasing experience through Amazon Pay and has experienced no instances of fraud since implementing the service. “We’ve protected both our customers and our business by adopting Amazon Pay,” says Reid.
To make sure customers are aware of the option, Appliance House indicates that Amazon Pay is available on every page of its website. And the merchant highlights Amazon Pay as a fast payment option in the side cart, in the basket, and on the checkout screen.
Preparing for future growth and innovation
In 2024, Appliance House plans to add Amazon Pay to every product page for even faster, easier checkout. It’s another step on the company’s journey to providing the most seamless customer experience possible. And with a thoroughly modern website-hosting infrastructure and payment system, the merchant is set up for future development and innovation.
“The potential’s there for us to do a lot more business without having to bring in additional staff or third parties,” says Reid. “We’ve got the infrastructure now to grow.”