With consumers emerging from the pandemic years expecting more payment flexibilities, e-commerce firms need to step up their omnichannel offerings: survey

In a March to May 2022 online survey of 302 senior business decision-makers and 600 consumers in Australia, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Singapore, and South Korea on their organizations’ payment strategy and related investments to optimize customer engagement, it was found that “the majority of businesses understand customers’ omnichannel payment expectations” but “organizations must overcome operational and technological challenges meet that expectations.”

Some 62% of consumers surveyed indicated they were “highly likely” or “certain” to look for alternative competitor options if their payment needs were unmet, and 44% indicated they would reduce spending unless they can use their preferred payment channel.

Other statistics in the survey included:

    • 90% of respondents indicated more effectiveness in enabling secure payment experiences, while 71% indicated they were providing more choices and convenience to customers, due to expanding or optimizing omnichannel capabilities. Other benefits indicated were: a reduction in shopping cart abandonment (49%), increased basket sizes (41%), and better cost efficiency when managing payments (34%).
    • 66% of business respondents rated omnichannel payment methods as a high or critical priority, compared to 24% before the pandemic.
    • 79% of APAC decision-makers in the survey reported that their businesses had implemented some omnichannel capabilities, with some in the implementation or pilot phase, while others were expanding and optimizing existing capabilities.
    • 50% or more of business respondents indicated they were planning to increase their investment in targeted interactions, dashboard views and granular reporting, and integration with customer loyalty programs for a data-driven approach to understand customers.

One key finding was that the operational and technological challenges of providing omnichannel payment experiences could be addressed with an integrated strategy focusing on five major areas: channel optimization, payments optimization, consumer engagement, balancing security with customer experience; and leveraging optimized data access and analytics.

According to Suhaib Khanyari, Head of ASEAN, Fiserv, which commissioned the survey: “A unified omnichannel experience not only facilitates consistency in service, it can simplify operations and drive bottom-line results.”