Challenge

Entrepreneurs are passionate about what they do, whether that's making purses, teaching online yoga classes, or running a summer camp. However, most lack IT resources, which is why they use POWR's plugins (also known as apps) to quickly build professional websites for connecting with customers and securing purchases.

When it launched in 2014, POWR's library included one payment processing plugin. To help more entrepreneurs transform their dreams into successful businesses—and increase its own acquisitions and growth in the process—POWR needed to expand its offerings and marketing efforts. Not only did POWR want to add payment processing services from a second provider, but its apps had to support more global currencies, bank transactions, and features such as one-click payments, subscriptions, automated checkout processes, and buy now, pay later.

POWR also wanted to offer an all-in-one sales and marketing app. By doing so, it could meet the more sophisticated challenges of established startups operating in the B2B and B2C spaces.

With a headcount of fewer than 25 people, POWR had to maximize efficiency to realize its vision. This sparked the hunt for easy-to-use, third-party technologies with well-documented APIs to accelerate app development.

Solution

In 2017, POWR used Stripe Payments to build additional payment and subscription plugins. Along with delivering needed technologies and responsive guidance, Stripe offered clear documentation and collaborative business opportunities.

“Stripe is a brand that people trust, it supports our clients' requirements, and it's a great partner that's easy to work with,” said Praneeta Mhatre, head of product engineering at POWR.

Over the next few years, POWR improved its solutions using the next-generation Stripe API and Stripe’s optimized checkout suite, which includes prebuilt UI building blocks, Stripe Elements, payment methods, and Link, Stripe’s accelerated checkout solution. Working with the Stripe professional services team, POWR's developers rewrote existing plugins to feature the latest Stripe capabilities and switch POWR’s default payment processor to Stripe. By doing so, POWR enabled its clients to easily add no-code payment processing options to their websites that support 25 currencies. Default payment methods include Google Pay and Link—which automatically prepopulates customers' profile and payment information during checkout to increase conversion. From their Stripe Dashboard, clients can also manually enable any payment method that Stripe supports including buy now, pay later methods such as Affirm and Klarna.

To offer customers a comprehensive sales and marketing solution, POWR also developed a Stripe App called POWR One. The app gives users centralized access to POWR's plugins and SaaS offerings like Stripe, Google Suite, and MailChimp. “With POWR One, companies have clear insights into their purchase funnel, along with the tools they need to make adjustments,” said Mick Essex, growth marketing manager at POWR.

POWR published its POWR One app to the Stripe App Marketplace, significantly increasing its visibility and revenue-generating opportunities. “Integrating POWR One with the Stripe App Marketplace was a no-brainer for us, and it only took two months because the Stripe API is so well documented,” Mhatre said. POWR also joined the Stripe Partner Ecosystem to take advantage of training, go-to-market strategies, reusable content, and co-marketing initiatives designed to accelerate growth.

Results

Faster, secure checkout experiences enable clients to double their revenue

POWR's customers who use its Stripe-based offerings typically double their revenue because they increase conversion and collect 82% more payments. Not only can they easily add secure payment processing, subscriptions, and customized checkout experiences to their websites, but customers who use Link complete their checkout in just seconds. “Giving small businesses the ability to support more types of transactions and payment options like Link and Google Pay simplifies purchases and improves cart conversions,” Mhatre said.

“On average, Stripe users will observe a 50% increase in marginal revenue compared to other alternatives,” Essex said.

Adding flexible, code-free payment processing tools increases POWR's acquisitions

Since POWR launched its Stripe-based plugins, the company has driven measurable growth. POWR's Stripe-enabled plugins are now used on over one million global websites.

“By launching our POWR One app on the Stripe App Marketplace, we're also expanding our acquisition channel to include B2B companies,” Essex said.

Partnering with Stripe enables POWR to do more with less

POWR saved at least a month of development time by collaborating with Stripe’s professional services on its recent product updates. By using the Stripe Partner Ecosystem, POWR also publishes promotional and how-to content for Stripe-related features twice as fast as it can for other vendors' technologies.

“A notable difference we see with Stripe as a partner is that it's genuinely interested in helping us grow,” Essex said. “It also provides information and opportunities that help our clients and our company continue to turn ideas into mutual success."