Newegg announced that it will integrate bitcoin as one of the payment methods.
Newegg, an online computer hardware and software retailer with headquarters in California, announced it would use bitcoin as a payment method. By the way, the move was expected by the firm’s clients.
Newegg, which generated revenues of $2.8 billion in 2013, is going to use BitPay payment processor for converting the digital currency into US dollars.
Soren Mills, the Chief Marketing Officer at the company, commented: “Newegg’s customers are among some of the earliest bitcoin miners and are enthusiastic proponents of the cryptocurrency. Adopting bitcoin as a payment method is another way we’re responding to our customers’ diverse needs.”
The issue of possible bitcoin integration by Newegg was recently raised in Twitter by the the company’s followers.
In an interview to CoinDesk, Mills said: “Our customers have been reaching out to us on Facebook and Twitter asking for us to accept bitcoin.”
“Prior to the actual integration, we spent several months conducting due diligence to ensure a smooth transition once we decided to move forward,” he added.
Since last year, a number of companies has accepted bitcoin. Newegg’s main competitor TigerDirect, which incorporated bitcoin in January, and Shopify that added the virtual currency in November 2013. In addition, Overstock began accepting bitcoin on 10th of January.
Newegg cooperated with Georgia-based firm BitPay for bitcoin transactions.
The payment processor has raised $30 million in venture capital and now processes more than $1 million per day.
Mills noted: “Working with BitPay to implement a bitcoin payment option at Newegg was a seamless process and our partnership gives us the capabilities we require for high-volume e-commerce.”
Newegg selected BitPay due to its reliability and flexibility. The major BitPay’s competitors are GoCoin and Coinbase.
The retailer expects to face a surge in sales of its certain products after the bitcoin acceptance.
“We already offer gear that’s commonly used in bitcoin mining – items such as specialized video cards, motherboards, cases and cooling accessories. In fact, this is another way we assessed that our customers were ready to make purchases using bitcoin,” Mills told CoinDesk.
Newegg took 172nd place in Forbes list of the largest private companies in the US. Created in 2006, the firm now includes staff of 2,600 employees.
In 2009, Newegg filed an IPO application, but in 2011 the firm withdrew the application.
The sector of consumer electronics is on an upward trend now. According to MarketLine, the segment is estimated at $43.8 billion per year in the US. As Forrester Research predicts, online retail market will achieve $371.4 billion annually in 2017.
Being one of the leading online retailers, there is a high demand for Newegg to accept bitcoin.
Tony Gallipi, BitPay Executive Chairman, said: “Newegg has been the most requested retailer from the bitcoin community and our collaboration will serve this pent-up demand.”
Polina is an undergraduate student at Belarusian State Economic University (BSEU) where she is studying at the faculty of International Business Communication for a degree specializing in Intercultural Communication. In her spare time she enjoys drawing, music and travelling.