As the retail payments landscape evolves to match rapidly shifting consumer needs, businesses will be looking to ensure that their customers’ demands are catered for. Our Head of Omnichannel, Rónán Gallagher, spoke at the PAY360 conference on 22 March about the ways that commerce is blending.
With the growth of eCommerce sites, such as our own powerful all-in-one online shopping solution, Stor, it’s not just the big players who need to be paying attention. All vendors, from hobbyists to traditional brick-and-mortar stores, would be wise to ensure that their businesses are future-ready. Here are the top 3 trends that retailers need to track to keep pace with consumer demand:
1. Card payments
The challenge
According to the BIS, since the start of the pandemic, contactless payments have increased at their fastest rate since 2015 – contactless now makes up 53% of UK credit and 69% of debit transactions overall.
Combined with a rise in card usage overall, the reality for merchants is clear – in order to meet consumer needs, businesses need intelligent POS systems that are reliable, easy to use, and dynamic in their applications, so that receiving payments is as smooth and easy as it should be.
The solution
Merchants need to think about the payment methods that POS devices have the ability to offer to their end consumers; having contactless payment connectivity as well as Apple, Samsung and Google Pay capabilities is now essential for retailers.
It’s also worth considering your specific POS needs. Do you take payments at the counter? A standard, wired connection will be fine. Need to move around the shop floor, or complete transactions at a customer’s table? Have a chat with your POS provider about machines with Wi-Fi, or SIM card capabilities.
When something goes wrong, it’s reassuring to know that you won’t lose out on key card payments at a time when cash usage is falling drastically- merchants should ensure that their POS providers offer round the clock support, including next-day swap outs to prevent downtime and lost income.
At Trust Payments, we ensure that our range of POS devices come with all of these features as standard.
2. Buy Online, Pay in Store (BOPIS)
The challenge
BOPIS, or Click and Collect, is forecast by GlobalData to account for 13.9% of total online spend by the end of 2022. With these trends in mind, it’s essential to be able to use different payment channels cohesively, as part of an omni-channel solution that will make calculating stock and sales figures easier for shopkeepers, who are already struggling with managing these separate streams.
The solution
The systems merchants use need to be well integrated – to achieve this, shopkeepers should look for complete ePOS systems that allow you to view all sales from your store, meaning you don’t need to worry about checking websites or eCommerce platforms to understand sales output and in-store requirements.
This inter-device communication can also extend to the use of semi-integrated platforms that communicate seamlessly between card machines and your ePOS system, meaning no manual entry is required when payment is taken.
Finally, merchants should seek advanced ePOS software that provides real-time analytics, to that show their model is working, see sales trends and recognise peak times, allowing for an easy understanding of the broader picture. Trust Payments’ ePOS solutions provide a complete package that offers all of the above, as well as round-the-clock support to keep you online.
3. Online checkouts and the subscription economy
The challenge
The growth of online purchases during the pandemic is no secret:
One of the biggest issues with eCommerce currently is carts being abandoned before checkout. The Baymard Institute found that, on average, 70% of online carts were abandoned before purchase. Of the top 10 reasons for this, 3 related to the perceived complexity, or safety of the checkout platform.
The solution
It is clear that online transactions must be simple and provide users with a safe, reliable means of paying – in at a time where so much business is being done online, merchants need would be wise to ensure that consumers aren’t leaving their sites empty handed.
To counteract this, merchants should seek seamless portal integration with their websites, as well as an easy-to-use UI that will prevent users from being discouraged at the checkout.
Store owners always need to make sure that their payment gateway providers are compliant with the highest levels of payment security regulation. PCI DSS standards should be sought as a minimum, with two-factor authentication and other security measures helping customers feel safe in their purchase.
Another key reason for abandoned carts, according to Baymard, is the lack of payment options available. Merchants should look for a gatewaywill most likely want to use a platform that supports all major card schemes, as well as phone pay options such as Apple and Google Pay. In addition, by supporting over the phone and pay by link functionality, store owners can ensure that all bases are covered.
At Trust Payments, we achieve this through our TRU Connect platform, which offers these features as standard, as well as utilising advanced AI to track purchases and help maintain security, both for sellers, and consumers. On top of this, our innovative eCommerce offering, Stor, is an all-in-one platform that allows merchants to sell online and create a stunning storefront with no coding knowledge required.
Staying ahead of these three trends and looking ahead to the future will be pivotal to remaining dynamic and adaptable as the world of retail payments evolves.
