Integrating PayPal With Shopify: A Step-by-Step Guide

Are you looking to integrate Paypal with Shopify? If yes, then this article is for you. The world of online retail is changing at a staggering pace, with new companies popping up every week. However, one industry is unlikely to change: ecommerce. 

As the ecommerce world continues to evolve, so does Shopify. With the integration of PayPal on the Shopify platform, you can now accept payments with just a few clicks.

From groceries to luxury goods, almost every industry has embraced the potential of Shopify to build their ecommerce websites and sell more goods faster and at a lower cost. 

In 2021, the total merchant sales on Shopify were approximately $175.4 billion and are expected to grow by over 50% in the next four years.

That’s because online retail is becoming an essential component of any brand’s digital strategy. As more consumers buy products online instead of in stores, brands are pushing their businesses to ecommerce website building platforms like Shopify and integrating popular payment services like PayPal to make the whole buying and selling process very easy.

This article covers easy steps to integrate PayPal with your Shopify store. Let’s get started.

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What is Shopify?

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Shopify is an all-in-one ecommerce platform that allows you to sell products online, run simple customer onboarding, manage your inventory, accept payments, and track your sales. You can either use it as a standalone app or integrate it with other business software—like a CRM system—to make it more efficient and streamlined.

Shopify provides its customers with a secured environment with its SSL certificates and provides its large merchant base with the necessary tools needed for designing and hosting their websites as well as storing data. This ecommerce website building platform operates on a subscription-based framework which includes:

  • Basic Shopify
  • Shopify
  • Advanced Shopify

In terms of payment systems, Shopify allows you to use its proprietary Shopify payment mode or, better yet, integrate your PayPal business account into the platform and accept payments from your customers.

What is PayPal?

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PayPal is a recognized brand in the financial services industry. PayPal is a global digital payment network that lets you accept payments online. The network is used by millions of users, including retailers, banks, and other businesses. 

PayPal has been around since 1998, but it has only recently begun to get a foothold in the ecommerce sector. The company has a long history of helping brands integrate with their digital strategy. PayPal was one of the first big digital payment providers to integrate with Shopify, and it remains a top partner today. 

With two decades of experience under its belt, PayPal has developed a strong track record in building integrations and has become one of the most trusted partners in the ecommerce sector.

Requirements

The following requirements are needed for a successful integration of PayPal into your Shopify account:

  1. You will need a verified PayPal Business account. If you have a personal PayPal account, you can simply upgrade it to a business PayPal.
  2. You will need a Shopify website.

If you have these two requirements ready, then we can now proceed to the main objective, but before we do, let’s have a run-through of what we will be addressing in this guide.

  • How to do the basic Shopify PayPal Integration
  • How to add guest payments to Shopify PayPal Integration
  • How to add phone number section to Shopify PayPal express checkout 

Step-by-Step Instructions for Integrating PayPal on Shopify

The PayPal Checkout Express Account is instantly linked to the email address you use to sign in to Shopify for your online store. As earlier stated, if the PayPal account you have is personal, kindly upgrade it to a business PayPal to ensure things move smoothly.

Shopify PayPal Integration

To integrate PayPal checkout to your Shopify, follow these easy steps;

  1. Log in to your Shopify Admin Dashboard and click on the “Settings” icon on the far left corner.

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  1. Inside the settings folder, click on "Payment Providers"
  2. After clicking the icon, a PayPal section will appear. Click on the "PayPal Express Checkout" button.

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  1. After clicking the icon, you will be directed to the PayPal section. Simply choose the type of PayPal account you want and click on the "Activate" button.
  2. Log in to your PayPal account.

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  1. After logging in, click the "Grant Permission" icon on the PayPal permission page.

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  1. After doing that, click on the "Back to Shopify" icon to return to your Shopify Admin page.
  2. Now go to the payment authorization section and select these two options:
  • Automatically capture payments for orders (Immediate Sale).
  • Manually capture payment for orders (Authorize only).
  1. After selecting these two options, click the "Save" icon and test the integration by running a trial transaction to ensure the Shopify PayPal integration was successful.

That’s all! You’ve successfully integrated your PayPal checkout into your Shopify website. Congratulations!

How to Add Guest Payments to Shopify PayPal Integration

You may have trouble including PayPal payments on your Shopify website because your customers may not have a PayPal account. To enable Guest Payments on your Shopify PayPal Integration, follow the steps below:

  1. The first step is to sign in to your PayPal account.
  2. Now click on your profile at the top right corner and tap the "Account Settings" icon.
  3. After clicking the "Account settings" option, you will find the "Website Payments" icon on your left under the Products & Services section.
  4. After doing this, you will see a list of options. Search for "Website Preferences" and click on the "Update" icon on its right end.

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  1. After clicking the "Update" icon, locate the "PayPal Account Optional" by scrolling down, and then put it "On."

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Congratulations! Your customers can now pay you directly with a different checkout option that doesn't require a PayPal account.

How to Add a Phone Number Section to Shopify Checkout with PayPal Express

You're in luck if you want to leverage your customer's contact information! Thanks to PayPal, you can now add a phone number entry to your Shopify purchase information during checkout.

You may incorporate the customer's contact information into your Shopify Order Details by including a Phone Number field during the checkout process. To set this up, simply follow the easy steps below:

  1. First, sign in to your business PayPal account.
  2. After that, click on the "Account settings" icon.
  3. Under the Account Settings, click "Website Payments."
  4. After doing this, click the "Update" icon located just beside the "Website preferences"
  5. Now, select from the available three options in the “Contact Telephone Number" section by scrolling down; The three options will be:
  • On; (Optional Field), this means the field will be available upon checkout but won’t be compulsory.
  • On (Required Field), this means without your customers filling in their contact details, they won’t be allowed to checkout. You have to be mindful of this option as it most often leads to low conversions because some customers don’t like leaving their details when buying something.
  • Off: This means the "Phone Number Field" won’t be on the checkout form.

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After selecting the “On” option, a phone number field will be made available to your customers upon checkout. 

The Pros and Cons of Shopify PayPal Integration

The pros of integrating with PayPalThe cons of integrating with PayPal
PayPal integrations are risk-free.Purchases can be disputed.
PayPal is easy to integrate.Heavy repercussions for chargeback and disputes.
They charge low fees.Poor customer support.
Checkout is efficient.Significant currency conversion charges.
Access to PayPal’s API.No POS payments are accepted.
PayPal is popular around the world.

Wrapping Up

In this article, you’ve learned about Shopify PayPal Integration, how to add a customer phone number field to your business PayPal Checkout, and how to add guest payments for your business. You will agree with me that Shopify has helped so many businesses grow with its simple and hassle-free approach.

It’s easy to set up, offers a wide range of tools, and lets retailers build a fully functioning store in just a short period of time. Empowering more than 1 million businesses in over 170 countries, Shopify has become so popular that it’s now a major stakeholder in the global ecommerce ecosystem.

The fact remains that the ecommerce industry today is changing at a rapid pace, with platforms like Shopify and with more and more people using the internet to buy and sell goods and even services. It won’t be hard to say the future of ecommerce is just getting started.