Omnichannel retail: catering to the global consumer – UKTN (UK Tech News)

Today’s online shoppers are increasingly looking outside of their country’s borders for purchases.

In our global economy, we’re able to buy items from anywhere in the world at any time. Whilst I might want to buy conveniently from a retailer in my own market, the exclusivity, availability and sometimes even cost of certain items means that shopping internationally can often be an attractive option.

Take holidays and festive seasons as an example: whilst UK high streets struggled over the Christmas period, data from cross-border solutions provider Global-e showed that cross-border e-commerce sales were up 31%.

Sales are poised to exceed $900bn by 2020, up from $300bn in 2015 – an impressive 25% annual growth rate.

The rising number of payment options around the world creates demand for a global payments provider that can service all currencies and all payment providers in a seamless way.

The growing need for such a service is reflected in the incredible success of Checkout.com – an international provider of online payment solutions – which recently broke records by raising the largest Series A funding round in Europe ever. Checkout.com is not the largest payments provider by any means, but it now has a valuation of around £2bn just seven years since launching and is developing rapidly.

The payments market is lucrative for those able to cater to the global consumer. So how is Checkout.com making payments better for both businesses and consumers, and how is this trend set to really take off?

Frictionless payments

Online payments weigh heavily on buying decisions, and so can also contribute significantly to basket abandonment through points of friction.

A lack of familiar local payment options on international websites, limited infrastructure and lack of clarity around additional duties and taxes are often reasons for conversion rates dropping off. Being able to fill this gap presents a huge opportunity within the global retail market.

Checkout.com provides a quick, easy way for consumers across markets and geographies to pay with their preferred method. It gives shoppers a choice of 25+ different payment methods, joining the world-wide players like Visa, and Mastercard with regional favourites like UnionPay, AliPay and WeChat.

The result is a simple experience for all customers – no matter where they are from, as well as a layer of brand recognition that inspires trust.

For the retailer it offers seamless reliability and the ability to process multiple currencies and tax jurisdictions across various payment options. Retailers can then provide one simple checkout user experience that speeds up the payments and provides a single stream of revenue, processed quickly and credited without an extensive lag.

Keeping local service at a global scale

Many small brands that operate on ecommerce platforms like Shopify or Magento go with default payment processors, such as Stripe. However, the global players, such as Uber and adidas, are often looking for more tailormade payment solutions which allow for frictionless selling but also retain the local relevance and familiarity.

Having one multimarket partner for payment processing allows businesses to keep local in- market service on a super-relevant level and maintain the harmonised global experience across the globe. Whilst Checkout.com might not be the biggest payment provider, it was still able to secure some high-profile clients for this reason.

Omnichannel payment experiences

The growth of Checkout.com was fueled in part by the growth of electronic payment overall. Global digital commerce volume exceeded $3 trillion in 2017 – 13% of total commerce – and this will more than double by 2020.

Mobile commerce is the dominant factor in this trend, already accounting for 48% of digital commerce sales. Consumers and merchants alike are also increasingly embracing app-based commerce and in-app payments; ramping up investments in
mobile apps with innovative use-cases to provide omnichannel shopping experiences for customers.

Retailers should simultaneously look to improve the purchasing experience in-store. One cannot underestimate the boom for global travel and increased consumer demand for purchases.

According to a new report published by Allied Market Research, Product and Channel, the global travel retail market size was valued at $74.9 billion in 2017 and is projected to reach $153.7 billion by 2025.

Strategic investment into this sector will be a strong starting point for global payment providers looking to make their mark, building reputation from presence.

The luxury and high-ticket market itself makes up a large part of global spend, and around one fifth of orders are over $200. There is a rapidly expanding global middle class of shoppers with cash from Eastern markets like China and the Middle East looking for products from further afield, and they are willing to travel to make those purchases.

There were 1.66 billion global digital buyers in 2017 and this is expected to rise to over 2.14bn by 2021. The success of Checkout.com highlights the growing need for global payments that are simple, inclusive and available anywhere. It’s a message to businesses that they should be ready to design their offerings to serve anyone anywhere in the most frictionless way.