Everyone knows that merchant payments and card acquiring offers are highly commoditised Upload Filestoday. When merchants select a payment provider usually considers two factors: price and customer experience.
Multi-channel merchants have more ways to interact with customer than ever, but they need to translate these interactions into a POSITIVE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE. They need to CAPTURE CUSTOMER FEEDBACK and constantly MEASURE the gap between the expected customer experience and what is actually delivered during digital shopping journeys.
It is not surprising that with a growing complexity of channels:
- only 22 % of consumers say the average retailer understands them as an individual, and
- only 21 % say the communications they receive from the average retailer are “usually relevant.
- 88 % of merchants say their growth depends on personalizing the customer experience – but lack the resources and expertise to design an improved customer journey.
- Only 37 % believe they have the tools they need to deliver exceptional customer experiences.
But the danger may come in focusing solely on one part of the experience. Only 22% of the companies surveyed by E-consultancy and Seren (Foviance) had an integrated strategy to improve the customer experience.
With proliferation of smartphones and Internet connectivity, merchants can engage even with card customers and let them see available discounts when they are in or near their merchant location and also to confirm risky transactions. There are several ways how payment providers can help merchants improve customer experience with new functionalities like payment data analytics, advertising and loyalty programs.
Card acquiring and merchant services increasingly tend to attract new FinTech entrants. Their solutions help merchants drive personalized interactions and improve buying decisions. HOW? They are floating customized app solutions on cloud services so that they can access and leverage API data to provide more insights into consumers’ buying habits.
Digital transformation, increasingly dematerializing plastic cards offer several innovative ways for a powerful communication between customer and merchant. For example, Feedback, a service launched by Square in may 2014 provides fresh way of looking at an old problem of letting customers offer comments on their shopping experience. It let businesses get and act upon feedback from customers through their digital receipts. If a business decides to use Feedback, customers is prompted to answer the question “How was your experience?” with either a smiley or frowny face when they receive their receipt by text or email. Businesses are able to respond to customers on an individual basis. The feature is available to merchants for $15 a month. According to the Wall Street Journal Square processed in 2014 10 million digital receipts per month, so the opportunity to facilitate the building of those relationships is substantial.
The API driven digital innovations focused on building positive customer experience represent attractive revenue opportunity also for traditional merchant payment acceptance providers.
Are traditional card acquirers, banks, PSPs, ISOs & payment networks doing enough to help merchants create a more customer centric experience, shorten the buying cycle, increase loyalty and retention, and boost customer life time value?
How do they face the challenge of disruptive services being launched by innovative FinTech companies? Forward-looking payment providers aren’t writing off startups as threats. Instead, they’re finding new ways to collaborate with them. Starting with recognizing a need for building a collaborative culture, they can look to address customer expectations and working with other businesses to make their services ready for Multi- & Omni-channel commerce.
Merchant payments, Open Platforms & API driven digital innovations with FinTech companies are among the key topics to be discussed at the MPE 2017, the Top European merchant payments, POS and card acquiring event featuring 300+ CXOs and MDs, 150+ speakers, 1000+ of participants from 40+countries, 70+ sponsors & exhibitors. MPE 2017 is 1 BIG expo with 3 parallel conferences, MPE top class networking & evening dinners; Internationally recognized MPE Awards, MPE C-Level Club , Festival of European online merchant payments and Innovation Corner. MPE 2017 topics span from ACH payments, Apple, Samsung, Android Pay to integrated shopping experience, NFC, from FinTech to RegTech, SmartPOS, mobile & online checkout conversion, CNP Fraud & security, IoT, biometrics, local and cross border acquiring.
Request the conference program and registration form/sponsorship brochure at mpe@empiriagroup.eu or visit us at www.merchantpaymentsecosystem.com
Use our sponsor code MPE_INVEND for discounted tickets & EXPO opportunities in MPE Start-up Alley!
