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PayPal's in-store payment partners grow to 23 retailers

The e-commerce payment giant expands its offline reach to 18,000 brick-and-mortar shops across the U.S.

Dara Kerr Former senior reporter
Dara Kerr was a senior reporter for CNET covering the on-demand economy and tech culture. She grew up in Colorado, went to school in New York City and can never remember how to pronounce gif.
Dara Kerr
2 min read
Jessica Dolcourt/CNET

Increasingly bringing its service offline, PayPal announced today that it has nearly doubled its brick-and-mortar store lineup to 23 retailers that now accept its payment service.

"Delivering valuable digital and mobile payments is alive and thriving, and consumers all over the U.S. will now start seeing PayPal more where they shop every day, including the grocery store and at the gas pump," PayPal's vice president of retail services Don Kingsborough said in a statement. "No bells, whistles or buzzes -- just technology that works and gets the most from your money."

Throughout the U.S., 18,000 physical stores now let customers shop with PayPal in-store. The chains that accept this service include Famous Footwear, Dollar General, Mapco Express, RadioShack, Spartan Stores, Abercrombie & Fitch, Advance Auto Parts, Aeropostale, American Eagle Outfitters, Barnes & Noble, Foot Locker, Guitar Center, the Home Depot, Jamba Juice, JC Penney, Jos. A. Bank Clothiers, Nine West, Office Depot, Rooms To Go, Tiger Direct, and Toys "R" Us. Two additional stores are not yet publicly known.

The e-commerce payment business, owned by eBay, started a preliminary run a year ago in 51 Home Depot stores in the San Francisco Bay Area. The way the cloud-based payment system works is shoppers can buy items at checkout with a PayPal card or by using a PIN code.

The company's move to in-person payment at big box stores is likely an undertaking aimed at enticing customers from credit-card companies and other mobile wallet payment devices. Kingsborough said that PayPal plans to continue partnering with more retail stores throughout the course of 2013.

PayPal also announced today that it is testing a new iPhone feature with Jamba Juice. The feature lets customers order and pre-pay for smoothies or food before they arrive at the shop. Using the PayPal app, people can order, make special requests like "add a protein or daily vitamin boost," and schedule a pick-up time. When picking up their snacks, these PayPal customers can then bypass the line and get their food right away.