As the marketplace is becoming more digital, payment providers have the unique opportunity to tap into the minds of merchants in order to gain valuable feedback, significantly improving their product development.
Merchants are currently faced with an onslaught of pressure from tech-savvy consumers, especially young “digital-first shoppers”, to provide smartphone electronic wallets. Acquirers have had to scramble to find ways to integrate a variety of features onto their platforms such as scheduling personal service appointments, ordering groceries online and picking them up on-site, and ordering items within the store but having them delivered.
With many e-Commerce competitors offering same-day or next-day delivery, merchants that don’t meet at least this particular demand may see their customers’ loyalty fade away.
Partnership Is Key
Smaller merchants undoubtedly lack the capital to invest in multiple solutions, let alone manage them. Many would greatly appreciate a solution that integrates all the essential functions in one platform.
Merchants have never been key players in fintech’s product development process. However, that is about to change. Payments technology providers are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of working closely with merchants to develop solutions that address their pain points. And ultimately helping them grow. Allowing merchants to offer their feedback will strengthen the relationship between the payment providers and their merchant customers.
The importance of fostering customer intimacy and loyalty is a far cry from the relationship that payment vendors and their merchants used to be. It is no longer merely transactional, but cooperative. By taking part in this collaboration, opportunities for long-term revenue will be likely. Along with benefitting the bottom line, the creation of exceptional payment tools will also come to fruition, benefiting everyone involved, including the end customer.
Merchants are not typically tech-savvy, and therefore are dependent on their payment providers to take on a more consultative role in order to teach them and guide them towards the best solution. Together, they can identify any challenges and therefore implement the right technological improvements.
Payment providers must thereby become quite familiar and well-versed with the current software-based solutions and understanding the pros and cons of each one. This will enable them to offer a tailor-made solution for their merchants.
By taking this collaborative approach, payment vendors will be receiving valuable insights into the unique needs of both merchants and their customers. Not to mention gaining access to more data. Gaining knowledge as to how merchants and their customers interact will also give payment vendors invaluable data in order to help guide their merchants along the “digital experience pathway”.
Building A Lasting Relationship
Common business knowledge states that it is more important to nurture your existing consumer base instead of spending excessive capital to secure new ones. When payment providers deliver effective, integrated solutions in collaboration with merchants, the result will be the creation of long-lasting value and in turn, a committed business relationship.