UK’s Leading Payment Service Provider Teams up With Unique Sales Channel to Help Over 25,000 UK Businesses Through Recession

LONDON - Thousands of online businesses received a boost today with an announcement from online marketplace Aroxo (www.aroxo.co.uk) and Sage Pay (www.sagepay.co.uk) the UK’s leading independent payment service provider (PSP) that they have joined forces to provide a secure and efficient new sales channel.

The move to include Sage Pay alongside peer to peer payment platforms, such as PayPal and Google Checkout comes as a result of retailer demand and is part of Aroxo’s wider growth strategy.

Matt Rogers, co-founder of Aroxo explains: ‘We have ambitious plans for growth and by partnering with Sage Pay, both our network of customers and businesses using Sage Pay’s secure payment gateway will benefit from this innovative collaboration.’

Aroxo is the first buyer-driven marketplace where the buyer and seller can negotiate on the price of desired goods so will be a welcome addition to any multi channel strategy, and with Sage Pay’s integration it is an efficient and effortless new sales channel.

James Beard, Head of Commercial Development at Sage Pay comments “We’re delighted to provide our payment services on Aroxo’s marketplace. We’ve spoken to a number of our customers and their two key concerns are always reaching new markets and streamlining business processes. The ability to accept payments on their own website and via Aroxo and reconcile them in one place gives retailers one less thing to worry about and enables them to concentrate on making their business a success.”

Research carried out by IMRG shows that 62% of shoppers think the best deals are only available online, with online discounts soaring by 100%. It also shows that nearly half of e-shoppers believe their money goes further online, a trend confirmed by Sage Pay’s own statistics that reveal that the frequency of buying online has increased significantly but the average spend per transaction has decreased by approximately 10% year on year.

E-commerce businesses are tapping into the consumer desire to bargain hunt with 25% of small businesses intending to invest in their e-commerce in the next 12 months making competition between e-tailers fierce.

Sage Pay and Aroxo customer Qu Li from Web Electricals ( www.webelectricals.co.uk) explains, “For us it was essential that Aroxo supported Sage Pay. Now that both systems are fully integrated, we are benefiting from an excellent new sales channel as well as secure payment services and anti fraud tools from a provider we can rely on. It’s a solution that fits seamlessly into our business.”

About Sage Pay

Sage Pay is the fastest growing payment service in the UK. We offer our 25,000+ customers a secure payment service for the millions of transactions that we undertake on their behalf each year.

The philosophy that has driven us since our launch in 2001 is still at the heart of our business - to give our customers more than they pay for, and to make it really easy for them to do business. We make the process of accepting payments simple, fast and safe. Whether your need for online payment is simple, or completely tailored, we help to make accepting payments online, over the phone or via mail order more profitable.

www.sagepay.com

About Aroxo

Aroxo is a completely new and unique marketplace that helps buyers get great prices, and sellers grow their sales. Since launching a few weeks ago, the system has amassed over GBP55m in stock and currently has over GBP100k of buyer demand on the site.

Aroxo works by building buyer demand for products, and then assisting sellers in contacting those buyers. A seller who uses Aroxo simply uploads their standard product and feed and they can then see real buyer demand for those products.

The business has won several awards for its system, including being voted the UK’s Hottest Start-up 2009 by the London Business School, and being named in the Tech Media Top 100 in The Guardian.

www.aroxo.co.uk

Source: Sage Pay and Aroxo

Media Contacts: Amy Monro, Email: amy.monro at sagepay.com, Tel: +44(0)207-685-3337; Matt Rogers, Email: matt at aroxo.com, Tel: +44(0)7958-002382