Amazon rolls out new feature to allow shoppers to pay with Venmo

NEW YORK — Amazon is rolling out a feature that allows shoppers to pay for items using their Venmo accounts.

The option to pay with Venmo will be available for select Amazon.com customers beginning on Tuesday, the e-commerce giant said in a news release. By Black Friday – the day after Thanksgiving – it will be available nationally.

Venmo is largely known for peer-to-peer transactions, but it has been expanding its offering to allow payments to businesses.

Amazon’s move to offer more payment options comes as sluggish sales numbers have pushed the company to put brakes on its warehouse expansion plans. Retailers have also been more skittish about the holiday shopping season, and are offering more discounts to clear out their bloated inventories and lure in inflation-hit consumers.

Earlier this month, Amazon held its second major sales event this year for its Prime members, the first time the company offered such discounts twice in one year. The retail behemoth did not reveal how much revenue it pulled from the event, but some estimates showed it saw lower sales.