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Rise of Bitcoin: E-commerce firms accept digital currency as payment form

Bitcoin has made a number of headlines recently as an increasing number of e-commerce firms begin accepting it as a payment form. Bitcoin, a form of digital payment, provides a flexibility enjoyed by many consumers, causing it to catch on in the e-commerce world.

Flower delivery service accepts Bitcoin for online payments
One such organization that recently began providing a Bitcoin payment option is 1-800-Flowers.com. The company announced that in the fall of 2014, it will accept several major payment cards, PayPal and Bitcoin for online orders on its website, as well as on FannieMay.com, Cheryls.com, ThePopcornFactory.com and several others.

This new payment form isn't the only customer-focused innovation 1-800-Flowers.com has made. It was also the first to ever conduct a transaction on America Online, and the first in the floral industry to provide a mobile gift center. Additionally, it was also the first company to allow customers to make a transaction without leaving its Facebook page.

"As a customer centric company, we are always looking for new ways to engage with our customers and enhance their shopping experience for all of their celebratory occasions," noted Jim McCann, 1-800-Flowers.com founder and CEO. "Bitcoin, together with our other payment options, offer customers another highly convenient way to help them deliver smiles to important people in their lives."

Indian e-commerce firm becomes the first in the country to accept Bitcoin
However, the Bitcoin trend isn't impacting organizations in the U.S. alone. HighKart.com, an India-based e-commerce site, is set to become the first in the country to accept digital currency, according to DNA India. Similar to 1-800-Flowers.com, the company hopes providing a Bitcoin option will make purchasing easier and safer for consumers. However, HighKart.com decided to take it a step further and make Bitcoin their only payment option.

"With Bitcoin, the number of benefits associated are many, including very low/nil transaction fees, no chargebacks and no delays for starting to accept with an unprecedented security factor," noted HighKart.com CEO Amit Kumar.

E-commerce Bitcoin security is a must
According to Forbes, a number of other firms also accept Bitcoin for transactions and donations, including WordPress.com, The Internet Archive, OkCupid and Lumfile. Many organizations that now provide a digital currency options for payment cite Bitcoin's security benefits. However, this doesn't mean that companies should lax on their own data protections. As with any form of transaction, these organizations must boost their safety with an SSL certificate to keep any and all customer information safeguarded.

Protect data in transit with an SSL certificate today.

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