(Finance) – “Especially lately, the moment of payment is a crucial moment in the customer experience, both for the consumer but also for the merchant. It has an impact on the entire purchasing experience, because it very often comes at the end, and sometimes it can even frustrate it, think for example of technical problems.” He told Finance Joseph LoveAssociate Partner of Bain & Companyon the occasion of the eighth edition of the Payments Fair, promoted by ABI.
“But especially sometimes it can also be a growth driver: If there are innovative payment acceptance methods, the consumer can make purchases just to try them,” he added.
Speaking of large retailers, “we must always remember that today the users, even the younger generations, are used to increasingly faster and almost invisible payments – said Amore – Let’s think about when we order food at home, or take a taxi via an app. We almost don’t notice, neither we nor the merchant, the payment, and the payment is practically immediate. Users also want to find this in the physical experience. So we see large retailers trying not to make the user go to the checkout, therefore the use of the soft-post near the aisles to make the purchase or even – think of the restaurant – allowing consumers to pay directly at the table with the pay-at-the-table technology”.
According to the expert, “merchants, not only large ones, but also small ones, today have a need: that of having holistic solutions. For business management, but also for the management of payment methods, which are becoming increasingly broad. This is why what we see on the market, and this also applies to small and medium-sized businesses, is the need for these technology operators to offer complete solutions for the management of the entire part of the business, so we think about the inventory, the management of the tables in a restaurant, but also the management of the payments themselves. And this is certainly one of the most important trends.”
(Photo: Giovanni Ricciardi)