Tag Archives: Trends

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E-Commerce Trends for 2021

Today, businesses of all sizes are moving to an online structure. Brick-and-mortar stores that weren’t online before are quickly adapting as the pandemic continues and consumers avoid physical stores as much as possible.

With the onslaught of e-commerce businesses coming onto the scene, it’s important to know the trends that will change for 2021 so you can make sure your business is on target too.

Voice Search

Today, people are always on-the-go or multi-tasking and they’ve grown quite fond of technology, like Alexa or Siri, where they can speak their questions or demands. That trend is falling over into the e-commerce world, where consumers want to be able to speak what they want to search for rather than typing it in. Whether you add voice search capabilities or even let buyers make purchases using their voice is up to you, but know that it’s an up and coming trend.

Personalized Shopping

Customers today want personalized options. They want their shopping experience to be as seamless as possible. When they log onto your site, they want to see the products they want in the sizes they want.

Customers also love personalized recommendations. “Since you bought this, we’d thought you’d like this” is a great way to upsell and keep loyal customers. They know that you’re watching out for them and care what they think. This goes a long way in the e-commerce world.

Getting Active on Social Media

Today social media accounts aren’t an option – they are a requirement. Consumers want to hear from retailers whether it’s about current promotions, their featured products, or just behind-the-scenes posts that make companies seem ‘real.’

Creating Brand Value

If 2020 was anything, it was a year of turmoil for many. Consumers love it when brands get behind certain movements and aren’t afraid to show it. If you are behind a specific movement or care about certain issues in the world, consumers want to hear about it. Promote your brand value and you may find that you grow your audience just for doing so.

More Payment Options

Consumers today want many more payment options than just credit cards. They want to use their mobile wallets, PayPal balances, and want layaway options for big purchases. Companies like Afterpay are growing by leaps and bounds, especially during the holiday season so families can have a happy holiday season despite not having the immediate funds to pay for items.

E-commerce continues to grow and 2021 promises to be a big year for businesses of all sizes. If your business isn’t online yet, it’s time to start. Companies need to be online to get a larger audience, interact with their customers, and showcase their brand’s values.

It’s time to embrace technology and give consumers what they want. We live in a world of instant gratification today and running an e-commerce business is a great way to give customers what they want when they want it.

online-shopping

New Mobile Payment Trends Your Business Should Investigate [2023 Update]

Juniper Research analytics estimates two billion people will use mobile banking by 2020. Already outnumbering desktop connections, mobile users’ first banking experience is via a mobile device in developing countries. 

While dealing with complex regulatory compliance, banks are also charged with creating a more secure authentication system for their mobile banking security. In an ever-changing mobile environment, both banks and merchants are bending to customers, offering the convenience and speed mobile banking can provide. 

Here are the top mobile payment trends for 2023:

1. Mobile Point of Sale

With mobile swipe readers at farmer’s markets and coffee shops, mobile point of sale (mPOS) is growing increasingly popular. Meeting customers where they are, businesses can use mPOS to check out a customer in a decentralized manner – at their table or in the dressing room.

2. Mobile Wallets

Offering convenience, speed, and security, mobile wallets are one of the fastest growing trends in the technology of mobile payments. Accounting for $75 billion in 2016, mobile payments are predicted to hit $500 billion in 2020, making for an annual growth rate of 80% over a five year period.

3. Touchless Transactions

Contactless payment liberates consumers from cards and the associated technology limitations of swiping and inserting. With Apple, Google, and Samsung providing avenues of touchless payments, consumers are embracing the convenience, as well as the security, of NFC (near field communication).

4. Social Media Commerce

5G Mobile Payment ProcessingRather than redirecting a potential customer to a separate site, social media apps like Facebook allow buyers to click “shop now” and make purchases within the same app. Mobile payment processing technology integration with social media requires a flexible and dynamic processor to provide this convenience. Autofill coupled with chatbot checkout expedite the mobile commerce transaction, allowing shoppers to shop where they’re already looking.

5. Biometric Authentication

Mobile devices are using biometrics, including facial recognition, fingerprints, and retinal/iris scan, to authenticate a transaction, as well as to confirm identification. Combating fraud and identity theft, biometric authentication will grow to be a more reliable method for merchants to verify identity.

6. Artificial Intelligence

Amazon’s Alexa is the trailblazer for the future of voice-activated orders and payments for merchandise. Accommodating AI on their sites, merchants can leverage AI not only to sell merchandise but to also detect fraud.

Host Merchant Services

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Credit Card Vs Debit Card Processing Trends

The Millennial Generation is the Debit Card Generation

Cash or plastic? When members of Generation Y are asked this point-of-sale (POS) question, they are more likely to choose plastic, but not necessarily a credit card. According to research by PSCU, a payment processing provider for American credit unions, older members of the Millennial Generation, those who are between the ages of 31 and 38, tend to prefer debit card payments over lines of credit by a margin of 40% versus 36%.

Credit vs. Debit

The PSCU survey shows that paying with credit is more popular among members of Generation X, but things get interesting with younger members of the Millennial Generation, those who are between the ages of 23 and 30, who happen to prefer credit at an even higher rate than their Generation X counterparts. The youngest in the Millennial Generation cohort are evenly split in their credit over debit cards preferences at 29%; they actually prefer to make payments with cash, but instead of bills and coins they really like digital platforms such as Venmo, Google Wallet, Snapcash, PayPal, Facebook Messenger, and others. These young consumers, who are between the ages of 18 and 22, really like the idea of doing away with plastic and using their smartphones, which suggests that they are the perfect segment for digital currencies.

Young adults who are part of the Millennial Generation may not always realize that the payment processing structure of their beloved digital wallets are actually debit cards, but this is not something they worry about; they do not like carrying plastic cards and only keep a small amount of cash on hand just in case. They understand the concept of credit over debit, and this is probably why they prefer the latter; when they learn about the struggles many of their parents went through when revolving consumer credit was widely available, they prefer not to bother with this aspect of personal finance.

What Should Credit Card Companies Do?

Other personal finance research studies on the payment patterns of the Millennial Generation shed light on another aspect of credit and debit cards that young adults dislike, specifically data breaches. Such security issues are being considered by younger consumers, but there is also a certain aversion to the traditional banking system. It should be noted that a little over 25 percent of younger Americans have never used a credit or debit card, they think that checks are antiquated, and they dislike the idea of having to stand in line at the bank. They don’t mind using prepaid cards, which are another form of debit cards, as long as they are tied to mobile apps and have a disposable feel to them.

What should banks and issuers of payment cards do to entice the Millennial Generation? Mobile apps and innovation are clearly the answer, and they should start looking into digital currencies, perhaps beginning with safer options such as the USDC managed by investment banking giant Goldman Sachs. Something else to keep in mind is that younger consumers like rewards, social media features, and the ability to instantly transfer small amounts of cash.

Top 6 Retail Payment Trends in 2019

Point of Sale and Digital Payment Diversity Keeps Merchants on Their Toes

More than halfway through 2019, merchants are responding to the variety of paths consumers are choosing to pay for goods and services. From the mobile point of sale tablets retailers carry around the store to the tap-n-go options from both mobile wallets and contactless cards, consumers are adopting many options in making payments.

What must merchants do to win? Will the retail business flourish in adopting new technologies? To help answer these questions, we’ve assembled the patterns and forecasts that retailers should pay attention to in the coming months.

1. mPOS = Mobile Point of Sale

Payments made via mPOS, either a smartphone or other wireless device, are replacing the traditional point-of-sale terminal. Whether your local clothing store retailer walks up to you holding your potential purchase with a tablet to close the sale or your local coffeehouse spins a phablet toward you for your payment, mPOS is a growing trend offering merchants flexibility, as well as mobility to their paying customers. With the added functionality food trucks and other mobile businesses can have their POS in their pocket and not worry about recording the transactions in their accounting software when they get home.

2. Mobile Wallets

]In addition to big tech offering pay apps, retailers are creating their own app-based payments. Starbucks alone is the leader in all point-of-sale purchase apps, beating out big tech in the mobile wallet ambition. With loyalty programs offering points and discounts, retailers can leverage the consumer drive for convenience. Coffee drinkers like walking into their coffeehouse and picking up their cup of coffee waiting for them.

Mobile Wallet Payment Apps

3. Contactless Payments

Using NFC, near-field communication, or “contactless cards,” allow you to tap and go much like the big tech pay mobile wallet technology. An estimated 100 million contactless Visa cards will be issued in the US in 2019. Instead of taking an average of 30 seconds to insert an EMV chip, contactless only takes 15 seconds, saving 15 seconds per transaction. Many mobile wallets also have this functionality including Apple Pay and Google Pay.  The upgrade to a contactless machine is easy and most good merchant services companies are supplying them for free.

NFC (near field communication)

4. Alexa, Order Me a Pizza

Consumers now want to tell Alexa, Google, or Siri to order and pay for a pizza, handle banking transactions, or pay their bills. Security still has a long way to go with voice-activated mechanisms handling point of sale for merchants. Selling online isn’t just having an ecommerce shopping cart. Integrating into the popular search giants is gaining a ton of traction in the online/convenience shopping community. In doing so, your products can be voice ordered through smart devices. I bet your local competitor isn’t doing that!

mobile voice-activated point of sale

5. Blockchain wallets and Money Transfers

Blockchain, the record-keeping technology behind bitcoin, can track transactions securely while keeping costs in check in machine-to-machine, M2M, exchanges. Security is also the sticking point on this technology thus far. Walmart is integrating blockchain technology into their mobile wallet to make it more secure and save money in transfers, which won’t rely on a third party. While blockchain is still in its early stages for retail it is picking up momentum in the back end of many payment apps.

6. P2P = Peer-to-Peer

Younger generations are turning to mobile apps that allow them to transfer money quickly and easily to one another such as Venmo. From payment for dog sitting to paying half the dinner bill, the next wave of consumers are more comfortable with using P2P payment apps than ever before. Now, Venmo is able to be used as an NFC mobile wallet and can be used the same as Apple Pay in retail locations. Call your merchant services provider to find out how to accept NFC at no additional charge. 

While new alternatives to the point of sale provide seemingly exponential choices in paying for something, most consumers still prefer the traditional methods, namely credit, debit, and cash. Even the most tech-savvy consumer with a mobile wallet in his pocket still carries cash and a credit card.

P2P peer-to-peer mobile payment apps

Top 5 Mobile Wallet Trends to Watch

There are many recent advancements in merchant services and credit card processing, but one in particular that is gaining significant interest is mobile wallets. Once considered only a niche service, mobile wallets have greatly expanded and are now widely used by consumers. In fact, 24% of consumers use mobile wallets for their transactions daily. Mobile wallet transactions exceeded $4.250 billion in 2018 and are expected to reach $13.979 billion by 2022. Innovations and improvements will only continue with advancements expected in security and ease of convenience. Below are the top five mobile wallet trends that merchants, credit card processors and consumers should keep an eye on.

Mobile Banking

The first mobile wallet was created by Apple with their Apple Pay mobile wallet. Other companies came up with their own mobile wallets, like Google Pay and Samsung Pay built by competitors. Banks and other financial institutions are adjusting to cashless transactions and are creating their own digital wallets with notable names like Zelle and Venmo in the industry.

NFC Mobile Wallet Payment

Biometrics

Biometrics have been available for many decades, but were mostly included in high security access systems. The component costs of this technology have dropped significantly making it easier for product manufacturers to include biometrics in smartphones. Fingerprint scanners and facial mapping are now available features in many of today’s phones. This technology helps provide additional layers of security to facilitate mobile wallets and seamless transactions.

Payment Terminals

NFC, or Near Field Communication allows two devices, one a POS system and a smartphone to communicate. Upon checkout, a customer will hold their phone near the terminal and the NFC chip will facilitate the transaction without revealing any card numbers. This technology has enabled greater acceptance of mobile wallets and cashless transactions.

NFC (near field communication)

Artificial Intelligence

While Artificial Intelligence (AI) has had little impact in mobile wallets thus far, the promise of automating and enhancing customer experience is sure to become mainstream. AI can be used for chatbots to help facilitate transactions and to interpret users’ voice commands like with Siri or Alexa. Mobile wallet providers will take advantage of AI to interact with customers in a smarter way and reduce the need for additional staff at businesses.

Blockchain and Cryptocurrency

Blockchain technology is used to let people share valuable data in a secure way that can’t be tampered with. While blockchain is the foundation of cryptocurrency, it can also be used separately to facilitate more secure transactions. Broader acceptance of blockchain will drive the enhanced security that leaves many consumers wary of using mobile payments to begin with. Numerous mobile apps already support cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and their inclusion into mobile wallets is nearly inevitable.

Blockchain Bitcoin Global Cryptocurrency

Loyalty Programs

Customers always appreciate loyalty programs and business love them for customer retention. Mobile wallets will continue to incentivize consumers for frequent purchases at their favorite restaurants, coffee shops and other retail stores. Look for this trend to definitely continue with broader acceptance of mobile wallets.

These are the top mobile wallet trends to expect over the next few years. Consumers will continue to become more technologically savvy and demand that business take mobile wallet payments.

Customer Loyalty Program