Seamless Commerce: Why Merchants Must Adapt to Consumer Behaviors
Changing Consumer Behaviors Make Seamless Payments a Must for Merchants
Omnichannel retailing has been gaining steam for years. But more recently, it has surged as consumers demand greater shopping and buying flexibility. Customers today look to browse on any device anywhere to compare prices and inventory—all while shopping in-store or online and picking up in-person or receiving delivery at home.
In other words, shoppers everywhere are becoming channel agnostic, open to engaging with merchants in virtually any way possible. The one thing that has never changed, though, is that consumers still want a simple, secure, and seamless customer experience.
Merchants, too, recognize that payment flexibility is an opportunity to enhance their agility and adaptability. 61% of merchants say payments are a highly strategic area of focus for their company that drives significant competitive differentiation.1
Sound easy? Over the last six months, the primary pain point consumers experienced after making a payment to a business was a lack of omnichannel options. Merchants recognize there’s work to be done as 86% agree their omnichannel payment experience needs improvement.2 As a result, consumers still struggle with pain points across the payments value chain.
How can merchants succeed with seamless commerce? These Frequently Asked Questions explain what you need to know to make sure your payment platforms give consumers the seamless experience they want.
1. How are consumer behaviors changing?
The trend toward mobile payments has accelerated as consumers favor contactless and remote transactions. Online shopping has also surged. Today, merchants are seeking solutions that are frictionless and secure, such as Discover® Secure Remote Commerce, which allows consumers to use the simple Click to Pay feature. This removes the need for passwords and reduces manual entry of personal information, while adding a layer of security. Consumers are heavily leaning into these payment methods.
2. What is seamless commerce?
Seamless commerce allows consumers to browse, shop, pay, and choose methods of fulfillment from any device or combination of devices. As consumers shop in different channels, they don’t want to encounter friction when they move between these methods. They want a unified experience. For example, a consumer might research and buy a product on a mobile app and pick it up in-store, only to print out a label on the merchant’s website for return.
At the same time, consumers overwhelmingly want the highest measure of security when they are moving between channels. Over 7 in 10 consumers are willing to go through additional security steps at checkout.2 The good news is that they can have both. By implementing solutions such as Discover® ProtectBuy, a 3D Secure customer authentication solution, merchants can have an added layer of protection.
3. What is cross-channel consumption?
It used to be that customers had significant loyalty to their method of shopping. Consumers either preferred online buying or in-store shopping. Not anymore. Today’s consumers want a mix-and match approach, where they come to products through multiple touchpoints. But they don’t want to encounter any hiccups when they do. In fact, consumers reported that they were “much more likely” to complete a purchase if they could buy a product online and pick it up in-store.2 One-third of consumers said they would prefer the ability to pay ahead online and pick up in-store.2 By building a seamless cross-channel business model that lets consumers shop whenever and wherever they want, merchants can grow revenue and build loyalty.
4. What is curated consumption?
Technology offers consumers practically unlimited options. But with the mind-boggling amount of choices, consumers can become indecisive. They need new tools to narrow down—or curate—the vast number of choices regarding what to buy, experience, read, watch, or wear. Curated commerce carefully selects products that appeal to a particular demographic based on their search and purchase history.
5. How do curated consumption and cross-channel consumption fit into seamless commerce?
Consumer habits are changing, and consumers are increasingly demanding that merchants tear down the walls between channels. Seamless commerce bridges the gap between in-store and e-commerce with the increasing presence of Open Banking and Open Finance. These create new opportunities for cross-channel marketing and transactions by turning banking and payments data into customer insights to provide exceptional customer experience through an integrated network of financial services. But, integrating payment types is a top challenge for merchants wanting to make the most of curated and cross-channel consumption.
6. How can merchants succeed with seamless commerce?
Today’s consumers expect to be given alternatives in the way they shop and pay. For merchants, this means they need to provide the seamless payments options that their customers want. More than half of merchants (53%) said offering a variety of digital payment options is the top strategy for driving conversions, highlighting the need for diverse payment integration for a personalized payments experience.2 To achieve this, merchants should rethink how they approach much of their customers’ shopping experience, from increasing payment options and building loyalty to making transactions simpler and easier, and working with payments partners to keep their technology up-to-date. One key area merchants can focus on is tap to pay on mobile. Because this technology gives customers the ability to pay nearly anywhere, it answers the need for those personalized payments experiences and gives customers a unique checkout experience that they are comfortable engaging in.
Trend to seamless will continue
Changing consumer behaviors—and the changes in payments that come with them—will continue to offer greater opportunity for merchants who embrace seamless commerce. But challenges remain. Working with payments partners that have deep experience in payments integration is key to developing the seamless commerce that today’s consumers expect.
- 451 Research S&P Global Market Intelligence Global Merchant surveys, commissioned by Discover Global Network, Q1-Q2 2024n=5,030 consumer respondents in Brazil, Canada, mainland China/Hong Kong, Germany, India, Mexico, Singapore, the UK and the US
- n=2,258 merchant respondents in senior payments/finance and strategy roles, headquartered in Canada, China, Germany, India, Japan, Mexico, the US and UK.
- 451 Research S&P Global Market Intelligence Global Consumer surveys, commissioned by Discover Global Network, Q1-Q2 2024.
- *n=5,030 consumer respondents in Brazil, Canada, mainland China/Hong Kong, Germany, India, Mexico, Singapore, the UK and the US.
- *n=2,258 merchant respondents in senior payments/finance and strategy roles, headquartered in Canada, China, Germany, India, Japan, Mexico, the US and UK.
The information provided herein is sponsored by Discover® Global Network. It is intended for informational purposes, and is not intended as a substitute for professional advice.