What Customer Information Does PayPal Express Return to the Store?

[Dianne]

Zen Cart v 1.5.5e
no plugins (yet)


I've read several posts about PayPal Express as well as the "Zen Cart has partnered with PayPal" page and there's one question to which I cannot find a clear answer.

If I send the customer directly to PayPal to make their payment (the customer does not fill in information to create an account on my site), what information does PayPal provide back to me on the customer? Do I get full information (full name, full contact information, including email address and phone; information on the product purchased, etc.)?

Or, is the information I get back limited in any way?

Thanks for anything that you can share.

[DrByte]

If the customer uses PayPal Express Checkout, without first being logged in to your store, PayPal gives (to your store) their name, email address, and shipping address, as these are essential in order to fulfill their purchase.
They "might" give the customer's phone number if the customer says yes to allow that.
Your store records the details of what they're purchasing. PayPal might have a summary of those items, but your store is the primary source of truth.

[Dianne]

Thank you, DrByte! That's exactly what I needed to know.

[jeking]

If the customer uses PayPal Express Checkout, without first being logged in to your store, PayPal gives (to your store) their name, email address, and shipping address, as these are essential in order to fulfill their purchase.
They "might" give the customer's phone number if the customer says yes to allow that.
Your store records the details of what they're purchasing. PayPal might have a summary of those items, but your store is the primary source of truth.

It seems PayPal would allow the phone number to be returned:
https://developer.paypal.com/docs/cl...peration_SOAP/

if it was requested. I'm not seeing anything about needing the customers approval. This would be a nice piece if information to have, not only for @Dianne but for, dare I say, all customers and orders. Sometimes an email is just not sufficient contact information.

Possible for a future release?

[DrByte]

It seems PayPal would allow the phone number to be returned:

if it was requested. I'm not seeing anything about needing the customers approval. This would be a nice piece if information to have, not only for @Dianne but for, dare I say, all customers and orders. Sometimes an email is just not sufficient contact information.

Possible for a future release?

During actual checkout the customer is offered the option of sharing their telephone number; if they don't check it, it's not returned. If they do, we get it.

[jeking]

During actual checkout the customer is offered the option of sharing their telephone number; if they don't check it, it's not returned. If they do, we get it.

My client has told me their PayPal account manager switched this on for them. They are now getting the phone number with each order. I don't know how that jives with DrByte's comments but thought I'd share.