Survey: Majority of Retailers Not Yet Prepared for Omni-Channel Payments Strategy

The retail industry’s goal to transition to omni-channel strategy may still take a long way as only a minority of retailers have implemented an omni-channel payments program, says a recent survey of about 100 retailers by PCM Research and ACI Worldwide.

The research, ‘Omni-Channel Payments for Merchants: Myth or Reality?,’ found that only 21 percent of retailers surveyed have adopted an omni-channel payments program, mainly large groceries and department stores.

The survey also found that 46 percent have no plans of implementing an omni-channel payments program in the next 12 months.

Retailers face several challenges when implementing omni-channel payments programs including incompatible systems, data integration, the inability to track customers, fraud prevention and payment security capabilities, it noted.

When asked about their ability to innovate, 50 percent of the respondents said they are in the ‘early’ or ‘innovators’ stages, while the other 50 percent said they are ‘technology followers.’

The survey also found that alternative payments, mobile and tokenization are the preferred omni-channel payments and tools.

Sixty-three percent of respondents said they are interested in Alternative Payments and 53 percent in Mobile POS (mPOS) and Wallet.

The preferred implementation strategy for omni-channel payments has also moved from in-house (on-premise) model to a hosted SaaS model mainly due to increased payments complexity and PCI compliance.

Andrew Quartermaine, Head of Merchant Retail EMEA, ACI Worldwide, “The path to omni-channel payments is complex and can seem daunting, and merchants are at a crossroads with the number of technology options. However, those that embrace these types of disruptive opportunities to serve today’s anytime, anywhere consumers will come out ahead. A frictionless payment experience for the consumer in any channel should be the goal of retailers and merchants.”