The need to eliminate friction from the buying experience at all costs extends to all of its phases – and payments are no exception. In fact, the payments space is perhaps the element of retail that has witnessed some of the most exciting innovations.

In an effort to knock down all barriers to sale, forward-thinking retailers are streamlining payments beyond anything we imagined. We are now seeing options to buy now & pay later, cashierless stores were trialled by UK giants like Sainsbury’s and Tesco, and Amazon hopes to roll out a feature which will allow customers to pay with a wave of their hand in its stores. For their part, web stores opened their doors to new technologies such as cryptocurrencies and e-wallets.

But, when it comes down to it, what payment methods do people actually favour? Many UK shoppers just want to be able to easily pay with credit and debit card, so is it worthwhile for vendors to invest time and resources to integrate complex payment tools into their sites?

Take the money and run

December 2019