Your Digital Transformation Strategy Is Missing Local Payments

Local Payments Are Becoming One of the Top Digital Transformation Trends in Retail in 2020

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, business models for retailers and e-tailers have changed overnight. In response, businesses must adopt digital transformation strategies that improve their ability to conduct digital commerce and generate revenue, anywhere, and anytime customers desire.

The Global Pandemic Only Accelerated the Existing Shift Toward Digital Commerce

• Global digital revenue grew 20% in Q1 2020, dwarfing strong Q4 2019 holiday shopping¹
• In the USA, digital spending on essential goods surged 200% between March 10th and 20th¹
• Digital revenue spiked by 41% in the final 15 days of Q1 2020¹
• 60% of US consumers plan on using digital/touchless payments instead of cash/coins in the future because of COVID

When brick and mortar locations closed or limited operations because of social distancing measures, people across nearly every demographic were thrust into the digital world.

Some behavioral changes will be temporary — but for many consumers, the habits that have been formed will likely exacerbate disruptions in retail through digital transformation and migration. Because consumer behavior is changing everywhere, businesses must localize the customer experience for every region where they do business.

Digital Transformation Strategies in the Retail Industry Must Be Tailored by Region

What converts customers in one region, will not convert those in others. Businesses selling across multiple countries in pre-COVID times may have positioned themselves to sell by accepting only credit card payments. But as more consumers embrace digital commerce, retailers must embrace the payment methods those shoppers use and trust.

In Mexico, for example, many customers prefer paying with cash. eWallets, such as OVO wallet, are indispensable in Indonesia. In India, people are adopting real-time bank transfers via UPI. The dynamic across the global ecommerce industry right now is one of fragmented and increasing local payment methods. Today, companies must not only consider how to diversify their geographic coverage, but to localize ecommerce and checkout experiences within each market.

 Localizing Payment Methods Powers Frictionless Digital Transformation

The easier it is for a client or customer to be able to check out and complete the transaction, the more conversions you can get. When only 18.4% of the world’s population has a credit card², If someone gets to a checkout page and all you offer are cards, you risk losing a lot of sales as more consumers embrace ecommerce.

Still, the frustration for retailers can be knowing which payment methods to invest in. Take Boleto, a common payment method in Brazil, as an example. Brazil is months away from launching a real-time payment method that may soon supersede Boleto as the primary payment method(1). The speed of commerce demands retailers have a digital transformation strategy that can weather changes to local payment method preferences.

It’s this non-stop evolution of local payment methods that led Rapyd to develop its platform to help companies collect funds across 900 different payment methods, store over 65 currencies, and collect and disburse payments across banks, cards, ewallets and ‘in cash’ networks. With Rapyd, your checkout experiences are always localized to accept the most popular payment methods in your customers home country.

Ready for a Deeper Dive?

Watch Rapyd’s Webinar: Economic Resurgence Through the Digitization of Global Commerce to learn more about making local payments part of your global digital transformation strategy.

Sources

1. Rapyd.net, Economic Resurgence Through the Digitization of Global Commerce

2. https://datacatalog.worldbank.org/dataset/global-financial-inclusion-global-findex-database