Why More Retailers are Choosing to Accept Mobile Payments

Greater POS acceptance has been steadily driving consumer adoption of mobile payments, particularly in the US and in China. Platforms like SamsungPay, AliPay and WeChat already have over a billion users each.

The growth trend shows no sign of slowing. In fact, Euromonitor predicts the value of m-commerce will increase by 250% over the next five years, from $1.9 trillion to $4.3 trillion by 2023, and the US and China will account for three quarters of this growth. Retailers without m-commerce capabilities in the next few years risk losing out on valuable business opportunities.

How long should retailers wait before they accept mobile payments and what’s the best way to go about it?

The benefits may surprise you…

Many retailers are still resisting the adoption of mobile payment platforms, but they have much to gain by embracing them.

For example, mobile payments have lower transaction fees than credit cards and they have the potential to decrease fraud, which amounted to nearly $47 billion in 2017. They also modernize the in-store experience and speed up transaction times, and they can even be used to draw shoppers into the store and encourage them to spend more. A recent study of Alipay shows that both the transaction amount and frequency increases with customers who use mobile payments.

Retailers can leverage mobile payments to drive foot traffic in stores by adding value in the form of extra loyalty rewards, real-time and relevant offers, and queue-jumping.

So how does it work?

Briefly summarized, payments are made can be made in the store as well as online. using specific mobile apps which store your payment information securely, like SamsungPay, ApplePay, GooglePay, AliPay and WeChat. The point of sale must be equipped with wireless near-field communication (NFC), and the payment is made as soon as the QR code is scanned. The whole transaction is as fast as tapping your credit card, and it’s more secure for the retailer as well as for the consumer.

So you’re ready to make the jump…

If retailers are already upgrading your POS system, they should look for retail software solutions which accept QR code technology right out of the box, such as Openbravo, whose POS solution already accepts the most popular mobile payments platforms, WeChat and AliPay. Like Openbravo, these solutions should also have the flexibility to adapt and accept other cashless payment options and technologies as they gain acceptance.

Find out more about Openbravo’s connectors for AliPay and WeChat by watching our on-demand webinar, “Choosing the Right Mobile Payments Strategy for your Retail Business”