Spokesperson: Svetlio Todorov, Managing Director at emerchantpay
In light of the news that the UK is officially out of a recession, it’s hoped that business and consumer confidence will steadily increase. As a result, merchants that may have put business growth plans on hold are likely to be re-thinking their goals for the remainder of the year. However, with competition also looking to do the same, it’s crucial businesses do all they can to stay ahead of the game.
A major area where many businesses go wrong when crafting growth plans is that they don’t include payments as a priority from the get-go. In order for businesses to successfully scale, payments cannot be an afterthought. Instead, businesses need to identify the cracks with their existing payment functions. Furthermore, payment leaders must educate the wider organisation on how optimised payments can be a catalyst for expansion and customer satisfaction. Finally, a powerful payment strategy should be created and incorporated holistically into the overall company roadmap.
Reimagining how payments are perceived
For far too long, payments have been viewed by many companies as a cost centre that simply exists as a final step in the purchasing process. It’s time for this narrative to change. As the world has become more digitalised, the role of payments has shifted greatly. Today, payments have the potential to act as an enabler, expanding reach to new markets, generating loyalty and additional revenue. In fact, emerchantpay research has demonstrated that 53% of payment leaders who make necessary adjustments to the way they approach payments will likely see spikes of 4-6% in revenue, with 25% potentially witnessing up to a 10% increase.
Uncovering inefficiencies blocking growth
For any business to leverage payments as a revenue generator, there first needs to be a clear understanding of the current state of its payment ecosystem. With a staggering 91% of payment leaders reporting revenue losses due to shortcomings in existing payments processes, it’s crucial that these issues are rectified.
Traditional payment methods, including credit and debit cards, have long provided reliable, secure, and widely accepted transactions. Expanding payment options to include methods such as Open Banking and eWallets can further enhance the transaction process for businesses. These solutions offer quicker, more secure, more seamless payments, boosting customer satisfaction and conversion rates. By incorporating a variety of payment options, businesses can position themselves for greater success and reach.
Other examples of where merchants are losing revenue, according to emerchantpay’s research, include inefficient fraud prevention and risk management strategies, little investment in internal payments teams and lack of detailed payment data analytics. The good news is all these obstacles can be overcome with a robust payment infrastructure paired and a partnership with an experienced payment service provider (PSP) with an established footprint in the merchant’s target markets.
Developing a strategy for success
It’s evident that more thought and attention needs to be put into payments to reap the growth opportunities they can offer to businesses. However, finding the right payments talent with the time and expertise needed to adjust payment strategies and drive optimal results is a challenge in itself. In fact, 34% of payment leaders claim that a lack of in-house resources and skills is holding back investment. This is why businesses should partner with a knowledgeable PSP that can work as an extension of the organisation’s payments team. Not only can a PSP partnership help to identify and alleviate payment pain points, but it can also act as a strategic partner in transforming a business’s payment strategy.
The right PSP will dedicate time to understand a business’s wider growth strategy, so that a payment strategy can work towards this goal, completely aligning with growth requirements. By truly understanding a merchant’s business model, a PSP can tailor services and solutions to suit a business’s specific needs and achieve revenue goals.
Payments should be at the heart of all organisation’s growth plans from the very beginning to ensure sustainable growth and investments in infrastructure. When looking ahead and setting growth plans for the rest of the year, businesses should seriously consider partnering with a PSP that can analyse existing payment processes, identify any issues and help create an aligned payment strategy. It’s these businesses that will successfully scale and, in turn, drive economic momentum as we climb out of the recession.
