In the wake of current macroeconomic conditions, generating revenue has never been more important. And yet, struggling businesses may be letting money slip right through their fingers – at the point of sale, to be exact.
To address this, one-third of financial decision makers at UK businesses plan to invest in their payments infrastructure over the next two years; as confirmed by the latest YouGov and GoCardless research.
The online payment processing solution’s UK survey of 503 business decision-makers and 2,159 consumers forms the basis of this research.
The research anticipates digital invoicing and mobile wallets to be the main recipients of this investment at 33 and 31 per cent respectively. Likewise, a further 28 per cent will direct capital towards direct debit infrastructure and open banking.
The urge to keep pace with market trends is expediting this behaviour, as indicated by 21 per cent of respondents. In a similar light, 19 per cent see heightened investment as an avenue to introducing new products and services, while 16 per cent are doing so to reduce payment fraud and to keep up with competitors respectively.
Payment investment driven by market trends and payer preferences
Embracing new technology could help stem the tide of customers walking away from an online purchase. The research confirms that nearly seven in 10 UK consumers would abandon online checkouts if the payment process was overly complex. Furthermore, 64 per cent would stop their purchase if their preferred payment method wasn’t available.
Business buyers appear to be battling similar frustrations. Half would stop a purchase if their preferred payment method was unavailable while 56 per cent would drop out if the checkout process is too complex.
On the matter of complexity, 44 per cent admit frustration when required to manually enter payment details at an online checkout.
As new payment technology rolls out, one-third of financial decision makers at UK businesses said they are likely to try variable recurring payments (VRPs), powered by open banking, for business purchases.
Of this figure, 26 per cent recognise VRPs as a better version of direct debit while 23 per cent agreed to the convenience of the technology.
Seamless checkout experiences
Acknowledging the evolution of payer expectations, Siamac Rezaiezadeh, VP of product marketing and insights at GoCardless, confirms how customers are becoming less fearful of abandoning a purchase if the payment experience is poor.
“In this environment where every sale counts, merchants can’t afford to miss out,” comments Rezaiezadeh. “While it’s promising that a third of companies plan to take action, we would urge even more businesses to get involved.”
“At the same time, it’s great to see that payers are open to payment innovations,” he continues. “New technology such as open banking payments can deliver the safer, faster and more seamless checkout experiences they’re looking for.”
These insights into the UK’s paying habits were revealed in GoCardless’s latest report, ‘Demystifying
Payer Experience‘. In total, the report surveyed over 7,000 consumers across the UK, US, France, Germany and Australia, and more than 1,500 business decision-makers in the UK, US, France and Germany.
The report leans into current payer preferences, checkout challenges, appetite to try new payment methods and areas of investment for businesses looking to upgrade their payment infrastructure.
