Guest Analysis: Small Merchants and Mobile Commerce: If They Miss Out, You Do Too!
David Abouchar
September 24, 2013 – Look around while waiting in a line, riding public transportation or even stopped at a red light, and you will see them: people with their heads down, gazing intently at a mobile device. With smart devices lauded as the fastest-adopted consumer technology in history, it’s easy to see why mobile is fundamentally altering how consumers around the world go about their daily lives.
Merchants who fall behind in their adoption of mobile payment acceptance technologies risk irrelevance, especially in the online space. As in physical stores, online shoppers don’t want to hit bumps in their purchasing process. If the online merchant’s website is not mobile optimized, it is as if the merchant has put a large, immovable display just inside the door, such that the customer cannot locate what they came for, let alone make it to the register to purchase it.
While merchants are struggling to keep costs low and at the same time meet their customers’ needs, the ISOs and acquirers who serve them are also striving to create value within their merchant offerings. But when it comes to technology, merchants often take a “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” approach.
Do merchants know how to respond to the mobile trend and the new consumer expectations? And as their merchant service provider (MSP), are you doing what you can to help them increase relevance and drive revenue from mobile commerce?
A Progressive Approach to Merchants’ Mobile Enablement
If your business relies upon a portfolio of healthy small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), you too must adjust to meet the mobile challenge. Providers offering cost-effective technologies and services to simplify mobile payment acceptance will remain relevant to the merchants they serve.
The following recommendations are based on insights gathered from the most recent ControlScan/TransFirst Mobile Payment Acceptance Survey:
- Encourage awareness and response – An important role of the MSP is to educate and enable the merchant so their business can remain viable for the long term. These activities include creating and generating awareness of cost-effective payment solutions that meet the purchasing expectations of both the traditional and mobile consumer, including the ROI of making that investment.
- Enable simplicity and convenience – Implementation complexities, whether real or perceived, will deter merchants from adopting new technologies. Today’s convenience-based marketplace requires that service providers offer a portfolio of tools and services that save merchants time and simplify their payment transaction processes.
- Evaluate, test and measure – Now is the time to carefully evaluate current product offerings to assess whether you have the tools to help your merchants take advantage of mobile technology today and tomorrow. If gaps are identified, flexibility should be built into recommended product additions in order to avoid committing to a solution that can’t adapt with changing consumer expectations.
In summary, both online and brick-and-mortar merchants must evolve their technology and marketing plans to unlock the boundless opportunities created by today’s always-on, always-connected culture. Now is the time to offer solutions that are flexible enough to change with market demand, promoting them in a way that makes your merchants think differently.
There truly isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach to this; instead, it’s about finding the right mix of solutions that will enable you and your merchant base to mutually succeed.
[spacer height=3] [divide] [spacer height=3] David Abouchar is Senior Director of Product Management for Atlanta-based payment security and compliance solution provider ControlScan. He is also an ETA Certified Payments Professional (CPP). Contact him at dabouchar(at)controlscan(dot)com.The views expressed in the posts and comments of this blog do not necessarily reflect those of ETA.