eBay's online-payment service PayPal announced a new Express Checkout feature for online sellers called 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.
PayPal also released a survey on Tuesday that showed 45 percent of online shoppers abandoned their carts multiple times in the past three weeks due to high shipping costs, security concerns and lack of convenience. The company said the survey found that providing shipping costs upfront might have caused more shoppers to complete their purchase.
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
Eddie Davis, Senior Director of SMB merchant services at PayPal, said, "To get shoppers to buy, it's critical merchants make the checkout experience easy and costs transparent. Our new PayPal Instant Update API will help merchants get customers the information they need upfront to drive sales."
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.
eBay's online-payment service PayPal announced a new Express Checkout feature for online sellers called 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. 
