Customer experience is at the heart of every retail professional's concerns. Payment plays a key role, often invisible but indispensable.
We spoke with Aude Vicaire, CEO of Market Pay Tech, in charge of products and solutions at Market Pay, to understand the current and future challenges in payments for the retail sector as she participated in a webinar on retail payments in partnership with LSA Magazine.
As a payment provider, what are the key challenges for in-store payments?
Aude Vicaire: The main challenge is ensuring trust in payments—or what we could call resilience. Imagine being in the middle of the holiday season, standing at the checkout, and your payment is declined (not due to account issues). Nothing could ruin the customer experience more. Our role is to ensure that payments run smoothly and without hiccups—aside from the amount to pay, but that’s the merchant’s domain!
To achieve this, we help merchants build trust with their customers and confidence in their payment solutions through several key actions:
- Providing reliable and innovative payment methods, such as pay-by-link or QR codes.
- Investing in modern payment terminals, like Android devices. At Market Pay, we offer an innovative range of PAX Android terminals, which not only process payments but also provide complementary functionalities, such as enrolling customers in loyalty programs, enhancing interactions between merchants and their customers.
Another critical aspect is avoiding long queues. According to a Pymnts study (2023), many consumers avoid stores with long lines. This highlights the importance of optimizing payment points to reduce waiting times through self-service kiosks or mobile solutions like Tap to Pay.
Finally, the massive adoption of contactless payments illustrates consumer expectations for speed and simplicity. In France, 50% of payments are made contactless, according to a 2024 study by CB. Merchants who fail to adapt risk losing competitiveness, especially if technical issues arise. A study by ResultFirst (2022) found that 26% of customers abandon purchases due to technical issues.
E-commerce is also experiencing strong growth. What are the specific challenges for online payments?
Aude Vicaire: E-commerce has grown rapidly, but this acceleration comes with specific challenges.
The first is offering a wide range of payment methods. If a customer’s preferred method isn’t available, they are likely to abandon their purchase. A Baymard Institute study (2022) shows that 60% of customers abandon their cart in such cases. Therefore, it’s crucial to integrate local or consumer-preferred solutions like wallets, Click to Pay, or market-specific options (e.g., Bancontact in Belgium or Bizum in Spain).
Another key challenge is securing payments. According to a Banque de France report (2023), 36% of fraud cases in the first half of 2023 in France involved remote card payments. This underscores the importance of prioritizing fraud prevention while maintaining a seamless user experience. Tokenization plays a critical role here: it masks sensitive data, enhancing transaction security without compromising user experience fluidity.
Finally, finding the right balance between security and customer experience is essential. Excessive checks can deter buyers, while insufficient security exposes merchants to risks. Achieving this delicate balance is vital, and we help our partners with solutions like strong customer authentication coupled with advanced analytics tools to identify loyal customers and offer them a simplified payment experience.
With the rise of Open Banking, PSD3, and account-to-account payments, what changes should merchants anticipate?
Aude Vicaire: These trends will significantly reshape the payment landscape. Open Banking enables direct payments between bank accounts, sometimes bypassing traditional card networks. PSD3 will accelerate this trend by fostering new players and simplifying access to financial services for merchants. At Market Pay, we are already working to support our clients in this transition by offering tailored and integrated solutions.
Merchants are cost-sensitive. Are there ways to optimize payment-related costs?
Aude Vicaire: Absolutely! Here are a few strategies:
- Choose a reliable payment partner: This helps reduce transaction fees while streamlining acceptance platforms. A good partner can help negotiate competitive acquiring fees, improving profitability.
- Invest in technology: Modern technologies like SoftPOS solutions, Android terminals (such as those in our Pay On Site offering), and autonomous self-service kiosks enable merchants to enhance the customer experience while lowering logistical costs. These solutions are especially suited for managing pop-up stores or events without sacrificing efficiency.
- Unify payment management platforms: Omnichannel solutions are essential to reduce costs associated with managing multiple partners. A unified platform like Market Pay Hub centralizes online and in-store payment management, simplifying reconciliation and transaction analysis while minimizing the number of partners merchants need to deal with.
Any final thoughts to conclude?
Aude Vicaire: During the holiday season, it is crucial for merchants to ensure that their payment partners can guarantee high availability and offer backup solutions if needed. While payment might not be your customers’ favorite step, it can still be smooth, simple, and even become a lever for better understanding your customers while optimizing your sales journey.
