Over time, retail models and strategies come and go. However, one of the latest trends, unified commerce, is more than a fad. It’s good business. Research by consultants Bain & Company and retail tech provider Aptos found that 100% of global retailers surveyed saw a positive impact on sales revenue from implementing a unified commerce strategy, and 76% characterized that impact as “significant.” The retailers in the survey also communicated that unified commerce has a positive effect on purchase size, profitability, customer retention, and operating efficiency. Like any business model, though, maximizing those benefits requires proper execution, and a key to successful unified commerce is the right payment technology.
The Unified Commerce Vision
Unified commerce harmonizes customer engagements on all channels to create seamless shopping experiences. That means retailers, restaurateurs, and other merchants recognize their customers whether they make purchases in physical stores, online, on mobile devices, or at unattended devices. For consumers shopping at a store operating under the unified commerce model, their experiences are personalized, convenient, and always on brand. Customers also have the freedom to interact as they like. They can buy online and pick up in-store, buy online and return in-store, use promos or gift cards on any channel, and use the payment methods they prefer for any purchase.
The payments piece of unified commerce is essential. A survey by Applause, a crowdtesting pioneer, found that 76% of consumers will abandon a purchase if the merchant doesn’t accept their preferred payment method. Merchants can expand payment choices online relatively easily through their payment gateway, adding options like bank transfers, mobile wallets, payment apps, buy now, pay later (BNPL), or other alternative payments.
However, accepting the entire spectrum of payment methods in-store is a challenge with traditional payment technology. Legacy payment terminals can’t read a QR code generated by a BNPL app, accept a cryptocurrency payment, or, in some cases, even allow the customer to tap to pay with a mobile wallet. Overcoming this barrier is necessary to creating the consistent experiences that consumers expect from unified commerce — and that prevents lost sales.
The Answer is Android
Legacy payment technology running on proprietary operating systems is time-consuming and costly to customize. Android, on the other hand, gives developers the freedom to expand Android terminals capabilities while ensuring strong payment security and Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliance. With robust Android-based payment solutions, merchants can run business applications, like inventory management, customer relationship management (CRM), and loyalty rewards solutions, from their terminals.
Furthermore, the right Android payment technology platform also allows merchants to accept the full range of payment methods. Developers can customize terminals to run transactions with payment methods using QR codes, like BNPL, peer-to-peer (P2P) payment apps, or cryptocurrency wallets. Merchants can also expand terminal capabilities with features such as currency conversion, digital receipts, and customer surveys to enhance unified commerce experiences. Payment services for Android also make managing devices, maintaining compliance, and strengthening security easier and more efficient. It’s conceivable for a merchant to accept any payment method in-store that they can accept online — if their unified commerce stack includes innovative, flexible Android payment technology.
Bring It All Together
The technology that powers and supports unified commerce comprises inventory management systems, CRM, marketing automation, order fulfillment solutions, wireless infrastructure, and data analytics. However, 70% of retailers rank point of sale solutions as the most critical to their unified commerce ecosystems. Choose payment technology that allows you to deliver the convenient, consistent, and seamless experiences consumers expect.
Ingenico’s AXIUM platform allows merchants to accept the full range of payments in-store on flexible, high-performance Android terminals. Contact us to learn how AXIUM will elevate you unified commerce strategy.
