Checkout Turbulence: Ingenico and FreedomPay Study Reveals Shoppers’ Frustrations and Desires at the Point of Sale

Ground-breaking study reveals more than half of consumers have encountered technical issues at checkout; shoppers’ desire for simple, secure transactions and maximized loyalty benefits is driving adoption of contactless.

Atlanta, Ga. - Ingenico, the global leader in seamless payment, and FreedomPay, the world’s leading consumer-centric commerce platform, revealed the results of a survey on merchant and consumer perceptions about payment technologies used as part of the customer experience in retail stores. The study showed that while technology is indeed quickly evolving for the better with more payment options, there is still frustration for consumers at checkout. More than half of shoppers have experienced a technical issue at checkout at some point, demonstrating a disconnect between merchants’ efforts and the shopper’s actual experience. The good news for retailers is that the numbers show they can quickly close the gap with contactless payment, as 75% of shoppers find the technology easy to use for purchases and loyalty programs.

The study, “Emerging Trends at the Point of Sale,” conducted by Hanover Research, takes a deeper look into understanding what consumers are thinking when it comes time to pay in retail stores and what technologies merchants are implementing to enable their customers to check out quickly. The findings reveal opportunities for retailers to build loyalty with their increasingly-digitally native consumer base by offering them the security and ease-of-use they require in a payment method, paired with the digital capabilities they prefer for tracking purchases and rewards. Key findings of the survey include:

2020 will finally be the year of contactless, and age is a factor 

• Age is a huge factor in driving contactless adoption: Gen-Z (70%) and Millennials (75%) report satisfaction with contactless payments and 65% of Gen-Z consider it a “must have” of merchants.
• Consumers are satisfied with contactless: 72% say it is easy to learn and 74% say it is convenient.
• About a third of consumers under 35 predict that merchants will become 100% cashless in the next five years.
• 84% of businesses accept debit or credit card EMV contactless payments, but only 37% of consumers are aware of the option.
• Ease of use could be a large contributing factor for adoption, particularly for transactions under $25, 80% of which are currently made with cash.

Loyalty: Give shoppers rewards on everything

• The most important aspect of loyalty programs for consumers is earning rewards on everything they purchase.
• 70% of consumers want to earn or redeem rewards without providing sensitive information.
• About half of consumers have reported experiencing challenges such as too many restrictions on spending rewards.

Conflicting privacy response: Consumers and merchants require security, yet shoppers want to be tracked

• 87% of consumers and merchants identify security as the top attribute when choosing a payment method.
• Younger consumers that are digital natives, however, use credit or debit cards because they like that it enables them to track their purchases.

Methodology

The survey was conducted in Q4 2019 by Hanover Research and includes the responses of over 350 merchants and 1,350 consumers in the U.S. For more details on the full findings of the study, please find additional resources here.