Grocer Giant Eagle Furthers PayPal’s Push to Capture In-store Volume At Checkout

With consumer use of mobile wallets growing, supermarket chain Giant Eagle, Inc. is adding PayPal and Venmo acceptance at checkout in its 474 Giant Eagle supermarkets and GetGo convenience stores. The move, announced Thursday, furthers PayPay Holdings Inc.’s efforts to capture in-store transactions through its mobile wallet.

PayPal began its push to gain broader acceptance in-store in 2020 when it reached a deal with CVS Pharmacy to run PayPal and Venmo transactions on quick-response (QR) codes at its 8,000 locations.

Shoppers will be able to pay for purchases in-store using PayPal or Venmo QR codes at checkout. To initiate a transaction, shoppers open their PayPal or Venmo mobile wallets, click the “scan” button, and select the “show to pay option.” PayPal customers can pay using their stored debit or credit cards, bank accounts, PayPal balance, or PayPal Credit.

With Venmo QR Codes, customers can pay using their stored debit or credit cards, bank account, Venmo balance, or Venmo credit card. Transactions will be processed by the Blackhawk Network Inc., which says Giant Eagle is the first supermarket chain to accept PayPal and Venmo.

“With mobile payments on the rise, it’s not just about consumers finding easy payment options, it’s also about ensuring that retailers and consumers are confident in using new payment tools and technologies,” Brett Narlinger, head of global commerce at Blackhawk Network, says in a prepared statement.

Digital wallets have become increasingly popular with consumers as shoppers embrace contactless payment options during the Covid-19 pandemic. Research by Blackhawk Network shows that 59% of consumers surveyed are using digital wallets more frequently than before the pandemic began. In addition, 48% of consumers are using QR codes and barcodes on a mobile device to pay for purchases with greater frequency in the past year.

Digital wallets are also driving an increase in customer loyalty, Blackhawk says, with 63% of respondents saying they are more likely to shop at a merchant if the merchant accepts their preferred payment method. Further, 73% of respondents say they want the same payment experience in-store that they have online. PayPal is the most popular wallet among consumers that pay digitally, according to the survey, with 60% of users planning to continue using PayPal as consumer shopping habits return to pre-pandemic levels.

“Consumers have grown increasingly comfortable using digital payments in many different contexts over the past year, including using touch-free options for in-store purchases,” Frank Keller, senior vice president of in-store at PayPal, says in a prepared statement. “This expansion of PayPal and Venmo digital payments into grocery and convenience stores propels our mission to bring easy, safe payments to consumers at any point in their shopping experience.”