Luckily, adopting a flexible payments system is easy and has real impact on your business results.
Why Payments Technology is a Must-Have
For many businesses, payments processes are low-priority, a necessary evil, even. But the opposite is true. Your payment system is mission-critical. Your future customers will approach your businesses with the expectation that you’ll accept their payment method, no matter what it is. Of course, the pandemic accelerated the need for robust payment acceptance, but these trends were actually in motion well before 2020.
Fiat Cash is No Longer King
Consumers used cash only for 26 percent of transactions in 2019, down from 30 percent in 2017. On top of that, cash is mostly used for small purchases, representing roughly 10 percent of transactions over $25. Since COVID, contactless cards and touchless payment methods are within reach of being today’s primary method of payment. The surge is expected to continue.
In fact, over two trillion transactions representing US$48 trillion are forecasted to shift from cash to cards and digital payments by 2030, making it a requirement for businesses to adopt a modern payments system.
The (Digital) Times They Are A-Changin’
A Payments Storm Has Arrived
Though the world is still in the technology age, today’s industries are experiencing another step forward in how technology will augment how business is conducted. This is more than a disruption. In the wake of the pandemic, it’s estimated that a half-decade’s worth of payments innovation has taken place in just over a year, with no pullback in sight.
Demographic data also sheds some light on where payments are headed. At this time, 72 percent of all mobile payments are made by millennials or Gen Z, and since half of the American population are millennials or younger, businesses must begin gearing up for the incoming wave of tech-comfortable shoppers, on top of the adults higher in age already comfortable with modern payment technology.
Let Payments Open the Door to New Revenue
Now that you understand the magnitude of modern payments technology, you can capitalize on the opportunities for greater revenue. Here’s how.
Optimize Your Digital Commerce Channel for Customers and Vendors
If your customers can’t conveniently pay you, they are much less likely to. Therefore, it’s important to provide your customers with easy payment options. How do most customers transact business with your organization? Are you confident that the payment channels they use are convenient? The average order placed on a desktop computer is 42% higher than an order placed on mobile, so be sure that you’re well acquainted with your customer’s checkout experience and preferences.
Even if you operate a mostly brick-and-mortar business, keep in mind that most shoppers prefer the convenience of online shopping, due to the ease of online purchases, and returns. In fact, if you can add an eCommerce element effectively—even to your brick-and-mortar business—you can attract and delight more customers.
Unified Commerce Initiatives
Instead of settling for a disjointed set of IT programs, use an integrated or mostly-integrated process. This means combining your e-commerce, m-commerce (mobile commerce) capabilities with your background processes like inventory management, billing, and (in some cases) customer relationship management.
If your commerce structure is a hodge podge of tools and systems, you may be operating on incomplete data, which makes your business management decisions less timely. If your business is equipped with accurate, timely data, you’ll be able to plan effectively and make better forecasts.
Understand Your Customers Better with Helpful Data Insights
In the technology age, data is its own currency. Fortunately, if you use digital payments, you will be able to capture data on your customers behaviors, website traffic, and more.
Spot trends, and drill down on key details specific to your business, giving you the intel you need to generate more revenue by improving your customers’ experience.
For example, suppose that you find out that 40% of your customers visit your site via mobile phone. This critical insight could inspire you to optimize your website for mobile users, making enhancements like adding smaller images (faster loading), buttons instead of links, or an otherwise streamlined experience. In this case, the data gave you actionable customer information, gleaned from watching customer behavior.
An effective payments platform should be able to provide key customer analytics on an easily accessible dashboard, giving you valuable insights to improve your customer experience. This data can also be a big help for your salesforce.
Prepare for Post-Pandemic Success
As you know, businesses today need to be more adaptable than ever. To ensure that your business will be able to continue generating revenue and serving all of your customers in the “new normal,” it’s paramount that you remain open to change. One of the most important enhancements you can make for your business is to shift away from your legacy systems, into the right payments technology platform. PayFrame can help you do that.
