Google announced this week it would be retiring its Google Checkout in November of this year as the company transitions to Google Wallet, a platform enabling merchants to meet the demands of a multi-screen world where consumers shop in-store, at their desks and on their mobile devices, according to blog post by Google.
Last week, according to the blog post, Google announced two enhancements to the Google Wallet platform – the Instant Buy API, which enables merchants to offer a fast buying experience to Google Wallet shoppers buying physical goods and services on their Android applications and websites, while processing their own payments.
The Wallet Objects API enables merchants to engage their customers with loyalty, offers and more. It was also announced that Google Wallet would be integrated into Gmail.
So what does the end of Google Checkout mean for merchants? If you are a merchant who doesn’t have your own payment processing, you will need to transition to a different solution within six months, according to the blog post. To make it easier, Google has partnered with Braintree, Shopify and Freshbooks to offer discounted migration options. If you are a U.S. merchant that does have payment processing, you can apply for Google Wallet Instant Buy.