An online retail leader

Ritz Interactive is an award-winning, specialty online and e-commerce service provider that operates a network of websites offering high quality, branded lifestyle products. Since its inception in Irvine, California in 1999, the company has become a leader in providing a full array of photographic and digital cameras, consumer electronics, and marine, boating and fishing products at competitive prices for online shoppers. Ritz Interactive's leading photo-specialty e-commerce websites are RitzCamera.com and WolfCamera.com, while the company's leading marine e-commerce website is BoatersWorld.com. Each of the individually branded and marketed websites offers a broad and deep selection of competitively priced products and brings an established brick-and-mortar reputation to the company's e-commerce platform.

At Ritz Interactive, online retail isn't just a part of the business; it's the entire business. It is an e-commerce company that runs a network of 18 retail websites, led by its flagship sites RitzCamera.com, WolfCamera.com and BoatersWorld.com. Each site, branded and marketed individually, is dedicated to bringing unique product offerings to the e-tailing shopper.

The 40-person company makes sure that online transactions are easy and streamlined for customers, and they do it well: total merchandise revenue is in excess of $100 million. In the past five years, Ritz Interactive has received a shelf full of excellence awards.

A better buying experience

No stranger to online checkout systems, Ritz Interactive added Google Checkout to the company's sites in 2006, seeing tremendous potential for increased traffic and lower processing costs, especially in reducing the cost of fraud. Today, Ritz Interactive shoppers have the option of choosing Google Checkout when completing their purchases. Google Checkout helps them purchase quickly and securely using a single username and password, providing a simpler, more organized way to make purchases. Checkout also works with Google's search advertising program, Google AdWords, through the Google Checkout badge – an icon that Checkout merchants can add to their AdWords ads that helps boost their visibility.

Upon adding Google Checkout to its sites, Ritz Interactive immediately saw an increase in traffic and conversions. With the Google Checkout badge on its AdWords ads, the company has seen a consistent increase in click through rates and conversions. "Proof positive that Checkout boosts visibility, users click on our AdWords ads 10 percent more frequently when the ads display the Google Checkout badge," says Fred Lerner, President & CEO for Ritz Interactive.

Keeping it on the up and up

An added benefit over the past three years is that the company has seen far fewer attempts at fraudulent transactions on orders placed through Google Checkout when compared to other payment methods. "For online consumer electronics retailers like Ritz Interactive, the cost of fraud can significantly impact the bottom line. Ritz Interactive is no exception," says Lerner.

With different product offerings on each of 18 sites, Ritz Interactive faces the unique challenge of preventing fraud across all brands. The key is to provide superb service while filtering out the fraudulent orders. "Although we have many practices in place to keep the cost of fraud low, we turn to Google Checkout to reduce fraud rates even further and lower operating costs," explains Lerner. "This allows us to do what we do best: serve and connect with good customers."

Benefiting both sides of the balance sheet

To maintain low fraud rates and operating costs, Ritz Interactive takes advantage of the full range of fraud protection services offered with Google Checkout. For instance, Google employs advanced risk modeling to detect fraudulent transaction cues across Google services. Fraudulent transactions are immediately cancelled after being detected. Google also provides a Payment Guarantee Policy that offers guaranteed reimbursement to merchants for chargebacks claiming unauthorized purchase or non-delivery on eligible Google Checkout transactions, as well as a Chargeback Resolution Policy that evaluates chargebacks and, whenever possible, fights them on the merchant's behalf.

"Fraud protection is very important to us. All transactions are conducted online so we don't get that face-to-face with the customer," says Lerner. "So we need to make sure we're communicating with legitimate cardholders."

Before order information is ever sent to Ritz, Google filters out fraudulent orders using proprietary fraud detection technology supplemented by manual review. This reduces operating costs at Ritz Interactive and lets the company focus its efforts on valued, honest customers.

While low costs are important to all businesses, online retailers know that timely customer service and delivery will keep buyers coming back. Ritz takes full advantage of the Google Checkout Payment Guarantee Policy to meet its service and delivery goals. On average, 98% of Google Checkout orders are designated as covered by this policy, meaning that Google fully reimburses merchants if they follow the program requirements for chargebacks claiming unauthorized purchase or non-receipt of goods.

"When we know an order is covered by the Payment Guarantee, it significantly cuts our review process and allows us to ship orders quickly," says Lerner. Customers have responded positively, earning the company Internet Retailer "Best of the Web" awards in 2008 and 2009.

When least is best

With a proven record of low costs and quick order processing, Ritz plans to keep up the momentum with Google Checkout. "Overall our fraud rates are low because of our transaction review processes, but Google Checkout provides the lowest fraud rate of any of our payment methods. The busy holiday shopping period is upon us, and it is time when customer loyalty is built and quick checkout and shipping is a must," says Lerner. "Because of our low fraud costs and decreased fraud review time in working with Google, we will continue to encourage buyers to use Google Checkout."