Dive Brief:

• Staples is the latest retailer to announce the availability of Apple Pay for online payments. The Apple payments solution now can be used on Staples' mobile website and within the Staples mobile app.

• When using Apple Pay for mobile online payments through the Staples app or mobile web site, customers can use an iPhone 6 or later smartphone, or an iPad Pro, iPad Air 2 or iPad mini 3 or later iPad model. Apple Pay also can be used through the Safari browsers on Macs introduced in or after 2012 running Mac OS Sierra, with payment confirmation via iPhone 6 or Apple Watch. 

• Staples will offer Apple Pay within Makr, a proprietary iPhone and iPad app that enables people to design and print materials. For in-store Apple Pay payments, customers are able to pay with an iPhone 6 or later smartphone, as well as the Apple Watch.

Dive Insight:

All in all, the theme here is a mobile one — and this could help Staples stand out from the growing crowd of retailers now supporting Apple Pay online. The retailer is making a distinction, allowing Apple Pay to be used specifically on its mobile-optimized site and through its mobile app, which suggests the retailer is serious about driving purchases onto mobile.

Staples is having a down year, still trying to claw its way back from a failed merger with Office Depot, but it hasn't forsaken ambitions to be on the cutting edge of retail's mobile revolution. Since at least late last year, Staples has been stressing the importance of its mobile capabilities in the bigger omnichannel picture. In August, a study from the Application Resource Center showed that Staples' mobile app had a greatly improved user review rating compared with a previous ARC study. 

Staples was among the earliest retailers to adopt Apple Pay for in-store payments when Apple launched the solution with several big-name retailers in September 2014. Getting any retailer to have this sort of faith in mobile payments is a step in the right direction for Apple Pay, which is trying to beat out a crowded market. The ongoing support from Staples is important, even if the chain isn't as big as other retailers like Walmart. Apple Pay has been making better progress of late since announcing its expansion to support online payment, but Android Pay and others remain relevant competitors.