Less than two months after beginning to accept Bitcoin payments, Overstock.com has processed over $1 million of sales in the digital currency. More than 4,000 customers have used Bitcoin as a payment method on Overstock and more than half of the orders came from new Overstock customers, according to the Coinbase blog.
Overstock began accepting Bitcoin as a payment currency on January 9. In the 50 days since the Bitcoin-Overstock partnership launched, 58% of orders paid in Bitcoin were made by first-time Overstock customers. While Bitcoin payments seems to have brought new customers to the site, it also appears to encourage higher spending. The average order size made by a customer paying in Bitcoin was $226 compared to $168 for customers paying in USD, a 34% difference.
Overstock stands to benefit from sales made in Bitcoin. Bitcoin payment processors typically charge less than traditional payment processors do for credit card purchases, according to Re/code, which can save Overstock significantly over time. “For us, the benefits are that we save on the transaction fee and we get to access that community,” Overstock.com Chairman and CEO Patrick Byrne told Forbes. Re/code reports that Byrne expects Bitcoin sales to total between $10 million and $15 million this year.
via The Next Web