By Quintin van der Linde, Head of Business Development & Don Lange, Partner Manager at Ecentric Payment Systems
Even as more retailers turn to setting up online storefronts to extend their presence and cater to shoppers looking for convenience, the majority of South Africans still prefer to shop at physical stores, and retailers are looking for a solution that gives them a better way of managing transactions and reconciliation. Enter omnichannel payments – a solution that can provide merchants with a single view of all transactions, while also enhancing the shopping experience for customers.
The current reality is that while shoppers are offered the convenience of paying for their purchases online, in-store, on different devices and different platforms, they face an inconsistent experience across these touchpoints. In addition, the management of all these disparate systems and platforms becomes cumbersome (and expensive) for merchants.
As such, retailers, whether large or medium-sized, are increasingly looking for the same thing: a single solution that can help them enhance the customer experience, increase customer loyalty and provide improved data insights, all of which ultimately drives operational efficiency and leads to increased sales. For customers, such solutions offer true flexibility: they can purchase online and then collect in-store, or make purchases and collect some products in-store while having others delivered to them – all in a single transaction.
South Africa’s retailers have understood the benefits that such an approach can unlock, and are looking to implement omnichannel payment solutions. They are now defining goals and objectives for omnichannel payments, assessing their current systems, planning integrations, training staff, and some are even carrying out pilot testing in stores.
In-person payments still crucial
With customers still wanting to shop in-store where they can see and touch products before making a purchasing decision, a seamless in-person payments solution becomes crucial to the customer experience. Customers also want to be able to pay for their purchases using a variety of means, including through bank cards, mobile wallets or even through vouchers and other loyalty programmes.
As such, merchants are looking for the latest in technology, including devices with the latest and most-relevant features that stand the test of time – all without having to spend excessively on implementing these new solutions. Beyond the convenience factor, security is critical here – when it comes to payments, merchants are working with the hard-earned money of customers, and shoppers want to be able to trust that their payments are safe and secure.
Van der Linde notes, it’s not just about the customer either; merchants want and need integrated payment solutions in order to reduce finger errors, theft and other similar challenges, and get vetted reporting via an easily accessible dashboard. Some merchants may even want unified and continuous financial payment reconciliation – such as Ecentric’s ReconAssist™ – to ensure accuracy of payments between what is sold and what is settled into their bank accounts.
Getting started
Retailers looking to implement omnichannel payments should look to partner with a payments service provider that meets three key criteria pointed out by Lange: The first and most basic requirement is that they have credibility and experience in the local marketplace, have relationships with all the banks, make use of the latest in payments technology, and have the ability to work with the retailer’s existing Point of Sale (POS) and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems and integrators. For example, having an acquirer agnostic approach means a company will need to work with all payment service providers and acquirers, giving businesses the flexibility they need.
Secondly, they have to be customer-centric: By understanding a merchant’s pain points, an experienced payments partner can implement a solution that aligns with the retailer’s strategy, mitigates against these challenges, and ensures that every touchpoint is simple, secure and compliant. This includes ensuring that the technology used is robust, reliable, and offers redundancy with the highest level of uptime, and being transparent around implementation timelines, which is critical in the retail environment.
Of course, all of this has to be underpinned by the high level of customer support that local retailers are looking for. Retailers want to be able to accept and process all payment channels and desired payment methods with continuous reconciliation, full compliance and high reliability, and want the backing of experts who can guide them to add value to their business.