UK shoppers demand payment options

Connected customers are not only changing the retail landscape, but also fueling the innovative payments space, both online and offline.

According to Sage Pay's 2017 Payments Landscape Report, businesses need to move with the times or risk losing customer loyalty.

In 2015, 7.75 billion pounds was spent using contactless cards, compared to 2.32 billion pounds in 2014, according to The UK Cards Association, which represents banks and card issuers. The growth in spend has increased more than the growth in the number of contactless cards, with monthly spend on contactless cards reaching a record 1.5 billion pounds for the first time in March.

With consumers now using mobile phones to do everything from scanning airline tickets at security, to buying their clothes, it comes as no surprise that they want to be able to use their devices for making payments.

Some of the innovations happening in the sector include MasterCard rolling out its Identity Check Mobile, or ‘selfie pay’, across Europe, including Germany, Spain and the UK. Engadget reports that the technology will allow MasterCard owners to verify their identity with a fingerprint or selfie, so users can take a photo of themselves on the app and the service creates a digitised map of their face. This is then used as a reference point whenever someone wants to complete a new purchase online.

Alibaba Group earlier this year introduced VR Pay, a virtual reality payment system that allows virtual reality shoppers to pay for items just by nodding, according to Reuters. This payment system will be incorporated into virtual online marketplaces, which will simulate, at home, the experience of shopping in a physical store by using a VR device, such as helmets or glasses.

Consumers are breaking the purchasing rules

While there is no longer a standard path to purchase, a third of consumers surveyed by Sage say they prefer browsing online and buying in-store – known as webrooming – while another quarter do the opposite – known as showrooming. UK consumers increasingly prefer online-only to in-store shopping, however, this is the opposite of consumers in the US, who prefer in-store only to online only shopping.

Credits:Image, MasterCard Selfie Pay; Report Sagepay.com