At online fashion retailer Love, Bonito’s physical store at Singapore’s Funan Mall, creating seamless shopping experiences all the way to the checkout counter means being ready to accept any mode of payment its customers prefer.
SEE ALSO : Love, Bonito’s first flagship store in Singapore
Whether cash, credit or contactless, transactions are quickly processed, and preferences are tracked for when the customer next shops. At its online store, the process is mirrored to provide a checkout experience that is seamless, convenient and secure.
Love, Bonito’s strategy acknowledges a new reality of heightened shopper expectations, and where failing to address a key source of friction in the customer journey can be an expensive mistake.
According to Adyen-451 Research’s 2019 Asia Pacific Retail Report, payments friction is a leading cause of abandoned sales. Last year, the lack of instore payment options cost retailers US$75 billion. Friction at online checkouts cost them even more: cumbersome checkout processes saw a whopping $104 billion in lost sales, while the lack of online payments options cost retailers $86 billion.
More than ever, retail today is about the shopper experience. And easy and convenient payments are key to this.
Making payments a priority
For retailers who prioritize frictionless payments, the rewards are rich. Research shows that payments are a vital component of a seamless online-offline shopping journey, contributing to a $1 trillion unified commerce opportunity in Asia Pacific.
Payments prioritizers, who recognise the difference the availability of payments technologies makes to the bottom line, know this. They draw on leading technology in a variety of ways to deliver to – and exceed – shopper expectations.
Consider that:
- 52% of payments prioritizers offer one-click purchasing online; only 9% of payments pessimists do this
Shoppers want fast and convenient payment options, and to be able to use their preferred payment method, online and off. One in three shoppers in Asia Pacific say the ability to complete a transaction in one click would significantly increase their loyalty to a specific retailer, and one in two shoppers have ditched a purchase because of lengthy form-filling upon checkout.
- 40% of payments prioritizers offer mPOS instore; 0% of payments pessimists do this
Queues are a common point of friction – and abandoned sales – in Asia Pacific. Almost half say that no queues would encourage them to shop with one retailer over another, and a third would be more willing to shop in-store if they could pay automatically upon exiting. Payments prioritizers who use mPOS and self-checkout to get around queues stand to reap gains in loyalty and repeat visits.
- 66% of payments prioritizers are prepared to combat fraud compared to 36% of payments pessimists
Shoppers are increasingly focussed on fraud and security – a real concern with 60% of retailers reporting increased levels of fraudulent transactions at their organizations since last year. Nearly half of shoppers said better security or fraud protection would encourage them to use card payments more.
The complete customer experience
As customer experience becomes the key business differentiator, retailers must reconsider every facet of the customer journey, and payments are key to creating seamless experiences.
It is those that have made fast, convenient and secure payments part of their unified commerce strategy that will be able to deliver experiences that are consistent, convenient and contextual. And that is what will keep shoppers coming back.
SEE ALSO : Funan mall reopens in Singapore
To get more actionable insights on how to grow your business with unified commerce, click to download the full report – Unified Commerce: Capitalizing on APAC’s US$1 Trillion Retail Opportunity.