Originally posted 2/20/19
From the Watergate scandal to the Mueller investigation, The Washington Post is best known for its ground-breaking national political coverage. Since the media company was founded in 1877, it has won 47 Pulitzer Prizes, developing a reputation as one of the most influential newspapers in the U.S.
As journalism goes digital, The Washington Post has worked to become a more tech-focused company. Today, the media company touts more than 1 mllion paid digital subscribers—and its goal is to continue to expand and retain its growing readership. To build interest and continue evolving beyond national politics, the company recently introduced The Lily, an online publication for millennial women. It also started Voraciously, a website that offers food recipes and cooking tips.
To help fuel its growth, The Washington Post integrated Amazon Pay into its website, allowing subscribers to pay with the credentials already stored in their Amazon account. By offering Amazon Pay, the company is giving its customers a speedier way to pay for its services. This, in turn, has increased the percentage of customers who complete their subscription purchases. “Our goal is to make the experience of signing up for a subscription as frictionless as possible—and that’s what Amazon Pay offers,” says Miki King, Vice President of Marketing for The Washington Post.
Faster checkouts
Amazon has found that generally, customers who purchase their subscriptions with Amazon Pay can check out in under 30 seconds. On average, that’s 65% faster than other payment options—whether users subscribe from a laptop or a mobile device. Interestingly, the number of customers using Amazon Pay has increased over time from when the payment method was first introduced in 2014 to today.
High conversions
Customers who use Amazon Pay have a high likelihood of completing their purchase. King believes this is because of the streamlined check out process that Amazon Pay offers. With Amazon Pay, it takes just three clicks to buy a subscription. Since adding Amazon Pay, The Washington Post has boosted overall conversions on its site.
Our goal is to make the experience of signing up for a subscription as frictionless as possible—and that’s what Amazon Pay offers.
― Miki King, VP of Marketing at The Washington Post
Fewer decline rates
Another advantage of Amazon Pay has been low decline rates. Customers who sign up with Amazon Pay are declined just 2% of the time. One reason is Amazon Pay provides soft decline info in the decline response, which can be used to retry the purchase again at a later time to yield a successful payment. “There’s a lower incidence of declines with Amazon Pay, which ultimately means more subscriptions,” King says.
Greater reach
As The Washington Post continues to expand, King believes customer familiarity with Amazon Pay will help its regional reach—especially as the company introduces new brands. “I absolutely believe Amazon Pay will create more opportunities for us,” she says. “It’ll be a key offering as we continue to grow our subscriptions globally.”