Retail turns to omnichannel payments to improve efficiency and enhance customer experience

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The current reality is that while shoppers can pay for their purchases online, in-store, on different devices, and on different platforms, they face inconsistent experiences across these touchpoints. In addition, managing all of these different systems and platforms becomes cumbersome (and expensive) for merchants.

As a result, retailers, large and mid-sized alike, are increasingly looking for the same thing: a single solution that can help them enhance the customer experience, increase customer loyalty and provide better data insights, all of which ultimately lead to greater operational efficiency and increased sales. For customers, such a solution offers real flexibility: they can buy online and pick up in-store, or buy and pick up in-store while having other products delivered to their door – all in a single transaction.

Retailers in South Africa have realised the benefits this approach can bring and are looking to implement omnichannel payment solutions. They are now setting goals and plans for omnichannel payment, assessing existing systems, planning integrations, training staff and some are even conducting pilot tests in stores.

In-person payments remain essential

As customers still want to shop in-store so they can see and touch products before making a purchase decision, seamless face-to-face payment solutions are essential to the customer experience. Customers also want to be able to pay for their purchases using a variety of methods, including by bank card, mobile wallets, and even through coupons and other loyalty programs.

As a result, merchants are looking for the latest technology, including equipment with the latest and most relevant features that will stand the test of time – all without spending an exorbitant amount of money to implement these new solutions. In addition to the convenience factor, security is also crucial – when it comes to payments, merchants are using their customers’ hard-earned money, and shoppers want to be able to trust that their payments are safe and secure.

Van der Linde points out that it’s not just about the customer; merchants want and need integrated payment solutions that reduce fingerprint errors, theft and other similar issues, and get vetted reporting through an easily accessible dashboard. Some merchants may even want unified and ongoing financial payment reconciliations – such as Ecentric’s ReconAssist™ – to ensure accuracy between sales amounts and amounts settled to bank accounts.

getting Started

Retailers looking to implement omnichannel payments should seek to work with payment service providers that meet the three key criteria Lange points out: The first and most basic requirement is that they have credibility and experience in the local market, have relationships with all banks, use the latest payment technology, and can work with retailers’ existing point-of-sale (POS) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems and integrators. For example, taking an acquirer-agnostic approach means that the company needs to work with all payment service providers and acquirers to provide the business with the flexibility it needs.

Second, they must be customer-centric: By understanding merchants’ pain points, experienced payment partners can implement solutions that align with retailers’ strategies, mitigate those challenges, and ensure that every touchpoint is simple, secure, and compliant. This includes ensuring the technology used is robust, reliable, offers redundancy and the highest levels of uptime, and is transparent about implementation timelines, which is critical in a retail environment.

Of course, all of this must be underpinned by the high level of customer support that local retailers are looking for. Retailers want to be able to accept and process all payment channels and required payment methods with continuous reconciliation, full compliance and high reliability, and want the support of experts to guide them in adding value to their business.