Payments giant Stripe has launched its Stripe Terminal in the UK, Ireland, France, Germany and the Netherlands to enable in-person payments.

The Irish-American company, which has built a rapidly expanding business in the online payments space, is launch of the point of sale device to enable retailers to adapt to the return to ‘in-person’ shopping.

Stripe said e-commerce platform Shopify has already used Terminal to build its own in-person checkout with flexible developer tools, pre-certified card readers, and cloud-based hardware management.

The move comes as e-commerce players look to expand the omnichannel customer experience post-pandemic with internet-first retailers such as Glossier and Warby Parker using Terminal to accept payments in person.

While selling online has become easier, Stripe said that extending sales offline has meant stitching together point-of-sale hardware and software, managing security and EMV certification processes, as well as complying with changing regulatory and hardware requirements.

One in three European businesses uses a software platform to help sell their goods online, according to Stripe.

Matt Henderson, EMEA business lead at Stripe, said: “Over the last decade it’s become much easier to accept in-person or online payments. But as soon as you want to do both, it would get complex and challenging. The expansion of Stripe Terminal means businesses in Europe around the world can easily unify their in-person and online payments experiences.”

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