Google Checkout launches in US

I came across google checkout today.

visit http://checkout.google.com/sell

Its amazing utility. I wrote a concept in the past which was based on single sign-on process. It was known as digital identity. I will be putting that whole concept here on itVidya some time in future. Google checkout is handling one of the aspect of digital identity.

If google checkout comes into multiple countries, it will sweep other packages and especially payment gateways who are charging ridiculous fees. Google checkout is charging 2% fee on transaction whereas other payment gateways charge anywhere between 2.5% to 4.5% (3.5% average). On top of that they charge minimum transaction fee & monthly fees. Not to mention setup fees & multicurrency gateway fees.

Its amazing as how many websites lose business because users hate to fill in login form. For IT professionals like us it is not a big deal but non-technical users expect much simpler process.

We specialise into making ecommerce websites. I see pain on both side of website. Website admin is spending huge amount of money on online advertising to attract users but very less percentage is converted into business. Other side, users struggle because they either dont want to fill in whole form being new to website or dont remember username/password.

I am currently managing two projects where I am experimenting with AJAX. I want to design it in such a way where selecting items to payment; whole process is handled on one single page. It should dynamically load details of user automatically by using their email address & postcode.

I will be closely studying google checkout from merchant perspective. I will wait till google checkout rollout in the UK. If suitable I will be happy to integrate that solution into forthcoming ecommerce projects.

I will be happy for any comments you have regarding simplifying checkout process for users.

I will be happy to know if anyone studied it before and have any potential information about it.