Web-hosting giant GoDaddy is making a move into consumer payment territory with its introduction of two new point-of-sale, or POS, devices that will take on existing options including Square, Stripe, Shopify and PayPal.
The Scottsdale-based company said its countertop smart terminal and mobile credit card reader will help small businesses save money as compared to other competitors' systems because its service will charge lower percentage fees for transactions and no fixed fees for card-present and keyed-in transactions. E-commerce transactions, however, will still include fixed fees that are on par with the competition.
The company has been able to expand its play in the commerce game thanks to technology it acquired late last year with the purchase of Palo Alto, California-based commercial payment service provider Poynt Co. in a $365 million deal.
Poynt was already in use by more than 100,000 merchants around the world at the time of the acquisition, and at the time GoDaddy highlighted its own strategy to provide a complete suite of commerce and payment services for its customers.
Along with the devices, GoDaddy (NYSE: GDDY) is also introducing its Commerce Hub, which the company said integrates with its Online Store. The company said it offers merchants a single sign on for inventory, sales and orders across multiple platforms, and it provides metrics on business performance on various platforms.
GoDaddy said it merged Poynt’s tech with its own online selling software within the Commerce Hub. Adding the POS devices completed the commerce package, the company said.
"GoDaddy’s new point of sale offerings supercharge our customers’ ability to sell anywhere and grow," GoDaddy President of Commerce, Osama Bedier, said in a statement. "We’re on a mission to enable small businesses with the most powerful yet easy-to-use commerce solutions at an unbeatable value. And we’re just getting started."
The new GoDaddy devices are its smart terminal for brick-and-mortar businesses — including two screens to avoid swiveling and a printer for receipts — and the card reader with docking station for payments on the go using GoDaddy’s mobile app.
