Accelerating Global E-Commerce: Adyen Cofounder Peter Caparso (Part 6)

Sramana: What type of impact do your sticky payment pages provide your customers? How big of a selling point is that feature?

Peter Caparso: The one-click payment really helps our customers to increase revenue. It has taken their conversion rates from 72% to 95%. That is a major selling point to our customers. When combined with our ability to offer more payment options and complete transparency, we have been able to take market share away from our competitors. Earning those accounts has been more than just features though, it has really required a lot of work.

For example, it took a year for PopCap Games to actually listen to me to the point that they were willing to receive a proposal. After that received the proposal, they asked for a test account. Honestly, it was very slow going earning that account, and in total it took two years to close that sale. Their engineers really had to kick the tires to determine if PCI compliance worked.

In the end, our flexibility and our personal service really earned that account. Once they decided to go live they did what many companies do; they offered us one country first to prove our capability. They started with Netherlands, and then they added Germany and the rest of Europe. We are now in the process of adding all of their other accounts. E-commerce payment transactions is not an easy business, especially in this recession. You really have to prove what you are doing.

Sramana: How long is a typical sales cycle for you?

Peter Caparso: Typically it is two to six months. Companies are cautious about switching their payment systems because it is their lifeblood. They are not going to switch accounts right away. It usually involves multiple meetings beginning with a director or a VP of e-commerce, and by the end of the process you are getting the CEO or CFO to sign off on the deal. You have to convince them that there is something there that you have to look at.

In parallel, as our business is getting more successful we keep making inroads. Barclays, the UK bank, did an internal assessment and ended up selecting our solution as their e-commerce solution. They are going to white label our solution and roll it out. That gives us serious credibility. We are starting to see some large accounts come our way now.

Sramana: What type of business model do you have in a white label deal like the one you signed with Barclays? Are you doing revenue sharing?

Peter Caparso: It is a revenue sharing model. We will provide a solution with a buy rate, and we will get a set amount of revenue for every customer that uses that solution. We also make money on the transaction fees.

We keep looking for new opportunities as well. Most of our leads come from cold calling. A couple of weeks ago I was reading that the New England Patriots [football team] were thinking of going into China. I thought that was a great opportunity to call them because it is obvious why they want to increase their sales. I called them and told them I could help them with their plan. I want to get in front of companies as they are forming their international plans.

This segment is part 6 in the series : Accelerating Global E-Commerce: Adyen Cofounder Peter Caparso
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