Payment Solutions Go Hand-in-Glove with Valentine’s Day Spending
Innovative payment solutions save the day for last-minute Valentine gifts. 2020’s first commercial special day is upon us on February 14.
For the romantically challenged, who haven’t been planning their Valentine gift for months, fear not! Take your pick of the many online payment solutions, which means you don’t have to miss out just because you forgot, or ahem… didn’t actually have a Valentine till last night. Online payment solutions are perfect for secret Valentine gifts or for those who have not had time to shop apart from their partners.
For a moment, let’s shift our attention from romance to marvel at the proliferation of payment solutions available for 2020’s holiday spending sprees.
The Road to OmniChannel Payment Solutions
If detectives want to know the facts their motto is ‘follow the money’. Similarly, ‘following the money’ leads us to the consumers who drive payment solution innovation. From the days of bartering goods, from coins to paper, from paper to cashless ‘plastic’ and from that to ‘invisible’ online exchanges. And, who do we have to thank for the road to today’s omnichannel payment solutions? The consumer, no less!
Consumer satisfaction drives payment solutions innovations as fast as their penchant for the latest fad in digital technology. With smartphones and wearables like smartwatches and fitness trackers leading the trends, real-time payments are already default methods in many countries.
In the UK, 63% of online purchases are made via payment card, while 21% use PayPal and 11% pay by an alternative method, say figures from eCommerce Worldwide. However, just over 400 miles away in the Netherlands, it is a very different story. Nearly 60% of online purchases are made via bank transfer, with only one-third by cards.
Further reflecting payment solutions, e-payment specialist PPRO, notes that one-in-four online shoppers in the US will abandon their purchase if their preferred payment method is not available. In Europe, it’s higher at just over two-in-five shoppers. And in Asia, it stands at three-in-five.
That’s the story the money trail tells, and smart service providers are taking note.
Cloud-based Platforms Spawn a Plethora of Solutions
When it comes to matters Cloud, we are already moving to Edge technology all in the interests of providing consumers with whatever is smarter, faster, safer and the height of convenience. Cloud and Edge technology afford flexible and scalable foundations that match the tidal wave of online purchasing preferences.
“As more and more smartphone owners use their devices to pay for products online, mobile payment services are predicted to grow rapidly. At the same time, the emergence of one-touch checkout buttons, P2P payments and the rise of sharing economies have created new opportunities for remote mobile payments,” says Medici in a comprehensive payment solutions resume.
Considering the obvious trends, businesses who want to keep up with consumer expectations, accepting a variety of digital payment solutions is imperative. That is demanding on retailers because we’re still in transition. It’s not as if we can throw paper money out the window yet. The art of combining traditional payment methods with advancing digital payment solutions does put a strain on company resources, but the ROI makes it worth every effort.
Emotional customer purchases provide an ongoing income stream that can become a river in flood with convenient payment solutions. Commercially assigned special days and holiday seasons, special occasions and celebrations, as well as the more unexpected and sombre end of the gifting spectrum, is fertile ground – Valentine’s Day being this month’s case in point.
Valentine’s Day Keeps Your Payments Running Hot
Keeping up with the times as far as your flexible payment solutions go, be prepared to reap a rich reward on commercially supported occasions like Valentine’s Day. Your readiness needs to accommodate the traditional chocolates, flowers, cards and candle-lit dinners as well as the more creative romancers looking for luxury cruises or flights to Paris or a London Show.
Smart outlets who may have advertised well in advance for Valentine’s Day, do well to give spontaneous consumers a way through with a last-minute sales nudge of your own. Valentine’s Day is the ultimate emotionally driven spend and you can harness that by focusing on ease of payment solutions.
Restaurants especially could benefit from adequate payment solutions and the connectivity they will have built up with online marketing and geographical push alerts to encourage 11th-hour Valentine’s Day couples.
Are you ready for the rush? Contact Huge Connect for seamless payment solutions.
