Venmo: Now Accepted at Williams-Sonoma

Williams-Sonoma is a major stop for a lot of young couples looking to tie the knot, especially those who’d like a little something more upscale to start off their wedded lives. Now, those looking to pick up some of those gift registry items will be able to do so in short order thanks to a new move by Williams-Sonoma and Venmo, which brings the peer-to-peer (P2P) system into play.

Word from Williams-Sonoma chief operating officer Mike Vaughan noted that users can either call on the money currently in a Venmo account or route charges directly through a bank account instead to either buy gifts outright or buy a sharing interest in someone else’s gift on Williams-Sonoma’s various websites. Venmo will, in turn, charge Williams-Sonoma a processing fee for the service.

Williams-Sonoma, meanwhile, figures this will work out well as opening up a new payment system will draw in more users, despite the fees. It also steps up the number of PayPal users able to shop with the company, so losing a percentage of each payment to processing fees is a comparatively small price to pay.

This isn’t the first expansion for Venmo; just a while ago, we saw Venmo working on a free debit card for some users that would really open up the company’s capabilities, as it operates almost like a reverse Apple Pay, looking to branch out into business-to-consumer as it had established itself in peer-to-peer.

Considering that an inexpensive juicer on the Williams-Sonoma site runs in the three-figure range, Williams-Sonoma and Venmo don’t exactly look like they’re running in the same market circles. After all, we know that a good chunk of Venmo users are younger millennials just out of college, if that; the notion of them buying a $150 juicer is a bit outlandish. However, if the reports hold up about the notion of split checks, the whole idea becomes a lot less outlandish.

That’s great for young singles or even young couples just getting started who want to get something nice for friends or family getting married. It also improves the chances of users coming back later when their circumstances have improved and their budgets have grown to match. Williams-Sonoma may be working to build its customer base tomorrow as well as today.