Shopware and PayPal have been partners for years, united by a shared mission: to empower businesses at the forefront of digital commerce with cutting-edge, future-ready technology.
For over two decades, PayPal has led the digital payments revolution – enabling over 400 million users across 200+ markets to thrive in the global economy with secure, seamless financial services.
As a Shopware merchant, you may already be familiar with PayPal – but are you fully leveraging the capabilities of its latest solution? PayPal Checkout is the latest evolution in PayPal’s offering, designed to enhance the checkout experience and drive better conversion. With this all-in-one checkout solution, you can offer PayPal, Venmo (US only), Pay Later options, card processing, local payment methods, and more, all through a single integration. By bringing all your payments under one roof – instead of juggling different payment providers – you can simplify reporting and consolidate your settlements to better understand your business.
In this article, I want to explain how PayPal Checkout differs from its predecessor and what advantages it brings to your business.
PayPal Checkout | Earlier version | |
|---|---|---|
1 Advanced payment methods | PayPal Checkout lets you accept all major payment methods including PayPal, PayPal’s Pay Later, Payment upon invoice, credit and debit cards, Apple Pay®, Google Pay™, Venmo (US), and local payment methods like SEPA, iDEAL (Netherlands), Bancontact (Belgium), etc. | The legacy version is limited to PayPal wallet, credit cards and direct debit (SEPA). Also, Payment upon invoice was deprecated in September 2022 on legacy integrations. |
2 PayPal Pay Later options | With PayPal Checkout you can offer PayPal Pay Later options. You get paid in full at checkout while giving your customers the flexibility to pay later with no late fees. | It does not directly integrate PayPal Pay Later options as selectable payment methods; such options could only be promoted indirectly via banners. |
3 PayPal Pay Later Messaging | PayPal Checkout lets you easily activate PayPal Pay Later messaging. These banners automatically promote relevant PayPal Pay Later offers on your site at key points of the shopping journey. Customers are more likely to buy if they know they can pay in installments – so you’re more likely to make a sale. | It does not directly integrate PayPal Pay Later options as selectable payment methods; such options could only be promoted indirectly via banners. |
4 Cross-border sales | PayPal Checkout supports your cross-borders sales by offering numerous country-specific payment methods. With those you can reach international customers while making your business feel local. Build trust with local payment options that correspond to the shopper’s location. | Only limited local payment options available. |
5 Future proof | PayPal Checkout is a continuously developed and maintained product, regularly updated with new functionalities and improvements, ensuring long-term viability and up-to-date technological standards. | Legacy products are no longer actively developed, with some features already deprecated, leading to limited future compatibility and diminishing long-term reliability. |
6 Better technical integration | PayPal Checkout offers a modern technical integration using JavaScript SDK and is specifically designed for seamless integration within Shopware frontends. | Earlier version relied heavily on embedding payment forms via iFrames, which are technically less flexible, potentially disrupting the user experience, and providing limited customization options. |
7 Convenient checkout with vaulting | PayPal Checkout supports vaulting, allowing customers to securely save their payment methods including PayPal, Venmo, Apple Pay®, Google Pay™, and credit and debit cards, providing a quick and easy checkout experience. Saving your customer’s payment method also allows you to set up recurring payments and charge your customer on a scheduled basis. | Older versions do not support vaulting. |
8 Subscriptions | PayPal Checkout fully supports Shopware Subscriptions, enabling merchants to offer recurring payments or subscription-based products, improving customer retention and predictable revenue streams. | Older versions do not support Shopware Subscriptions. |
9 Package Tracking | PayPal Package Tracking can provide live updates and notifications to track your shipments from the point of purchase to your customer’s door. This can help reduce “Item Not Received” disputes. | If you are still using the older version, it does not provide an integrated package tracking option. |
Whether you're already using Shopware or just getting started, it's now simpler than ever to offer your customers greater payment flexibility – while streamlining your operations with PayPal Checkout as an all-in-one-solution.
Learn how easily you can activate PayPal Checkout in your Shopware store and help boost sales today.
[1] Apple, Apple Pay® and Apple Wallet are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. [2] Google Pay™ is a trademark of Google LLC.
*Pay Later is available in US, UK, DE, FR, IT, ES, AU. Product availability subject to local requirements. Merchant and consumer eligibility varies depending on status. Credit checks, fees and other requirements apply and vary depending on product and jurisdiction. See product-specific terms for details.
