WPP and Stripe Partner to Develop Commerce and Payment Solutions for Brands

WPP and Stripe have partnered to develop commerce and payment solutions for brands.

With this collaboration, WPP has joined the Stripe Partner Ecosystem as a consulting partner and will help their mutual clients with digital transformation, new product launches, eCommerce design and development, mobile applications, payments infrastructure and other initiatives, the companies said in a Thursday (Feb. 16) press release.

“Through the deployment of best-in-class technology platforms, like Stripe, we’re able to support bold client ambitions, promote powerful data-driven commerce performance and remove friction in delivering first-rate customer experiences,” WPP Chief Technology Officer Stephan Pretorius said in the release.

PYMNTS research has found that eCommerce represented 21.7% of annual retail sales in the fourth quarter of 2022, up from 21.3% in the third quarter.

In the 12 months before October 2022, eCommerce accounted for $1.3 trillion of the $6 trillion consumers spent on retail products, according to the February 2023 edition of the PYMNTS report, “Digital Economy Payments: The Ascent of Digital Wallets.”

The Stripe Partner Ecosystem offers companies access to consulting firms and other resources that will help them improve the eCommerce experience they offer their customers, according to the press release.

By joining the ecosystem, WPP — which has 13,500 commerce specialists around the world — will receive early access to Stripe’s new product releases and support from the financial infrastructure platform’s commerce and payment experts, the release said.

“The increase in online spending is accelerating, and companies need to innovate quickly to stay ahead of consumer demand,” Stripe Vice President of Global Partnerships and Alliances Dorothy Copeland said in the release. “By combining Stripe with WPP’s extensive commerce experience, businesses can modernize, get more out of their digital channels and grow entirely new revenue streams.”

This announcement comes a month after Stripe reported the expanded use of its platform by two prominent clients.

In January, BMW of North America tapped Stripe as its primary payments infrastructure for U.S. vehicle preorders and online purchases of extended warranties, and Amazon said that Stripe has become a strategic payments partner in the U.S., Europe and Canada and will process a significant portion of the retailer’s total payments volume.

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