eBay has PayPal. Google has Google Checkout. And now Amazon will have Bill Me Later.

According to the press release via Techcrunch, Amazon will invest in Bill Me Later and also add Bill Me Later as a payment option on Amazon.com.

In the Shopping Search panel at SES, someone asked about these alternative payment options and which ones to go with, thinking that listing 7 different options was too overwhelming for the consumer. While I agree that just pasting all options on the checkout page can be confusing, the best response from the panel (I think it was Scot) was to test test test.

I think that these alternative payment options are great ways to increase conversion rate, but merchants will never know until they add the option and then do A/B testing to figure out the best way to present the alternative payment option.

With Google Checkout, there is an added concern about who owns the customer in the long run, but in the short to medium term, there seems to be a great opportunity.

Here are some stats from Bill Me Later:

-47% of Bill Me Later transactions from new customers
-46% higher repeat usage
-50%+ increase in average order value, up to 150% when combined with promotional financing
-Low operating risk, since Bill Me Later works with existing payment processes
-30-40% lower transaction costs

PayPal also claims that adding its Express Checkout button will:

-Improve conversion rates. Express Checkout conversion is 40% higher than other checkouts
-Increase sales by 14% on average