Retail promotions that PayPal ran during the fourth quarter of 2008 helped it carve out a significantly higher share of wallet at several major retailer sites, and has helped it maintain share in subsequent time periods, according to ComScore.

Matt Archer, ComScore senior manager, financial services, said, "Despite the limited duration of the promotions, PayPal has managed to retain a notable share of wallet at most of these retailer sites in subsequent time periods. As merchants and payment services make decisions related to 2009 holiday promotions, the positive impact of prior programs in growing share of dollars and transactions represents critical information."

ComScore mapped out the results of three such promotions from last year:

• Overstock.com customers were presented with 15 percent cash back on a $100 purchase when using PayPal, which helped push its dollar share up 3.6 percentage points to 18.6 percent.
  
  
• Walmart.com, which launched its partnership with PayPal in early October 2008, offered $20 off a purchase of $50 or greater when customers used a PayPal account to checkout, resulting in a 9.0 percent dollar share during Q4.
  
  
• Dell.com gave PayPal preferential treatment, positioning the payment option right under Dell's payment plan and above all other credit card options, helping to boost PayPal's share to 7.0 percent in Q4 2008, an increase of 5.1 percentage points from the previous quarter.

These and other relevant findings are covered in detail in the comScore report, Alternative Payment Types Online: The Rise and Maturity of PayPal and Others Across the e-Commerce Landscape, which is currently available for purchase on the ComScore website.