Consumers no longer equate shopping with going to a store—or even a website. They don’t limit themselves to doing business on one channel, even to make a single purchase. They browse in a store or online, comparison shop on their smartphones, have orders delivered or pick them up at a smart locker. According to McKinsey, over 33% of Americans have built omnichannel habits into their routines, and two-thirds of these shoppers plan to continue to shop this way.
Merchants that want to meet the demand for omnichannel shopping need to plan carefully. True omnichannel is more than setting up storefronts online, launching a mobile app, and selling on social media. It’s offering consistent, connected experiences that allow consumers to move seamlessly from channel to channel. McKinsey states, “Expanding haphazardly can destroy customer experiences and the value of the tech implemented.”
How Omnichannel Payments Can Help
Successfully building an omnichannel business takes strategy and overcoming numerous challenges. Fortunately, an omnichannel payments company can help. Omnichannel payments allow a merchant to manage all payments, card-present, card-not-present, unattended, mobile, and more, from one platform.
This feature of omnichannel payments provides your clients with:
- Visibility
Your clients can access reports that show them electronic payments across their entire, helping them to keep a close watch on their operations and build a total view of their customers’ behaviors by analyzing omnichannel payments data.
- Consistency
An omnichannel payments platform enables merchants to offer the same payment experiences on all channels. The right platform can even allow a business to “remember” its customers when they engage in different ways, simplifying checkout processes.
- Growth Opportunities
Omnichannel customers tend to be more loyal and spend more. For example, Symphony Retail reports that omnichannel grocery shoppers spend up to 20 percent more than shoppers who engage on only one channel.
A leading omnichannel payments company will also offer value-added services, such as text-to-pay, recurring payments, online ordering, gift cards, and loyalty software, fully integrated with their payments solution.
How Omnichannel Payments Benefit All of Your Clients
Regardless of the market or niche that’s the focus of your business, if your clients accept payments, they will benefit from omnichannel payments. For example:
- Restaurant
Restaurants can serve more customers by accepting payments online, with a mobile app, or through self-service kiosks. Additionally, almost any table service restaurant can improve customers’ experiences with pay-at-table options like QR codes or mobile point of sale (POS).
- Retail
Retailers can expand their reach and offer their customers improved experiences by implementing well-run buy online, pick up in store (BOPIS) processes and giving customers the convenience of accepting online returns in-store. Omnichannel payments streamline those processes by sharing e-commerce sales data with brick-and-mortar staff.
- Repair and Maintenance Services (fields services)
Service providers like landscapers, plumbers, snow removal services, and housekeeping companies can all benefit from expanding the types of payments they accept. Mobile payments and electronic invoicing can save labor and will usually lead to the merchant getting paid more quickly.
- Professional Services and B2B
Professional services and B2B companies can cut costs significantly by replacing paper-based processes with electronic invoicing and recurring payments. This allows them to improve their cash flow by reducing the time from invoice to payment. It also allows them to reallocate labor from manual processes to focus on other essential tasks.
Why Omnichannel Payments Is Also a Win for Your Business
Businesses will quickly find there’s no one set way to run an omnichannel business, and they’ll need the advice and guidance of a solutions provider to help them plan, select technology, and integrate payments. With omnichannel payments, you can tailor solutions to your clients’ business goals and the types of customer experiences they want to offer.
You’ll also build stronger relationships with your customers—and more recurring revenue from a larger tech stack and payment residuals on multiple channels.
Ready to learn more? Contact us to discuss the features and flexibility of omnichannel payments and how you can integrate them to provide total solutions for your clients.
