LONDON, April 29, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --
UK SMBs must speed up their adoption of new payment methods or risk losing out on new business, finds Sage Pay research
- 31% of consumers say they are more likely to shop at places that offer a range of payment methods
- 80% of businesses say they will only embrace new payment methods if customers request it
- Retailers are losing £12bn by not accepting card payments
The average cost of handling cash for UK SMBs has reached more than £17.8bn a year, or £3,638.57 per retailer, according to new research by payment service provider Sage Pay.
The survey also found that businesses are not investing enough in new payment technologies, despite consumer demand.
Thirty six per cent of consumers say they are more likely to shop at places that offer a range of payment methods or innovative payment types.
And more than half of businesses agree that offering a range of payment options drives loyalty.
However, despite this, 80% of businesses polled say they will only embrace new payment methods, such as contactless payments, payment apps or bitcoin, if customers request it.
The Payments Landscape 2014, a new report released today by Sage Pay, finds that UK SMBs need to speed up their adoption of new payment methods or risk losing out on new business.
Thirty six per cent of the businesses surveyed say they will be looking to adopt contactless payment within the next five years.
Sage Pay surveyed 1124 UK business decision-makers and 1042 consumers in the study and has identified five areas that should be a key focus for UK SMBs in 2014.
Moving away from cash and embracing new payment technologies, going omnichannel, exploring overseas trading and addressing the balance of losing money to fraud versus losing genuine shoppers with stringent fraud screening tools are all areas that, tackled correctly, can make the difference between high and low growth for businesses.
63% of businesses surveyed have yet to integrate their online and offline channels via an omnichannel solution, despite more than half of consumers saying they prefer to use more than one channel when making a purchase.
What's more, this year saw 40% of businesses lose money as a result of fraud, yet 39% of businesses surveyed don't spend anything on fraud prevention.
Simon Black, CEO at Sage Pay says: "UK SMBs are a driving force in the UK economy, but if they fail to innovate, they are in danger of being left behind."
"Reducing friction should be the focus for every business. Whether that's looking at moving away from cash towards newer payment types, using 'single-click' checkout or adopting an omnichannel approach, this report looks at payments in the context of the consumers and businesses that use them."
Sage Pay's in-depth report on the state of the payments industry in 2014 has found that successful businesses are more likely to:
- offer a range of payment methods
- integrate their online and offline channels
- use tokenisation to offer a 'single-click' checkout
- be clued up on the issues when it comes to selling to overseas markets
- get the right balance right when protecting against fraud, taking care to not reject legitimate customers with their defences
As well as providing insight into the current payments landscape, Sage Pay's research also looks to future trends and predictions. The survey finds that almost half of consumers think that fingerprint recognition will be in use in 2025, while close to a third think that we will become a cashless society in the near future.
For more information, please visit http://www.sagepay.com
Notes to editors:
The study surveyed 1124 UK business decision-makers, made up of both Sage Pay and non-Sage Pay customers, and 1042 consumers. The interviews were conducted by Redshift Research in February 2014. Where it has added value, data from Sage Pay's customer base of over 50,000 businesses has also been used.
About Sage Pay
Sage Pay is Europe's leading independent payment service provider (PSP) and is one of the most trusted payment brands. Every year Sage Pay processes billions of pounds worth of secure payments for its 50,000+ customers and makes the process of accepting payments online, over the phone, or in person simpler, faster, safer and more profitable for businesses.
Sage Pay is a subsidiary of FTSE 100 business management software and services company The Sage Group plc. For further information please visit: http://www.sagepay.com
Contact
Louise Waller
+44-(0)208-834-3445
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