Embracing New Payment Tech Worries Retailers

Most retailers understand the importance of providing savvy customers with multiple ways to not only find deals, but also provide a smooth sailing experience, whether they are intending to buy a product on their mobile phone, on the internet or in a physical store. Despite knowing this, large and small merchants are finding it challenging to offer seamless transactions on all fronts.

According to the PYMNTS.com OmniReadi Index, the divide between the most and least prepared retailers when it comes to being fully “omnireadi” is growing.

In this month’s edition of the Developer Tracker, PYMNTS spoke with Vaughan Rowsell, founder and chief product officer for Vend, about how many retailers struggle with embracing new technologies and worry that the undertaking of providing omnicommerce opportunities to their customers will be too much to handle.

Here’s a sneak peek:

“Keeping operations siloed just doesn’t cut it anymore, but it can take some people time to come around to new technologies,” Rowsell said, adding that some merchants just can’t see the bigger picture of bringing various channels together or they believe it will be too hard to accomplish.

The adjustment to cloud-based technologies, which Rowsell says fuels the creation of a true omnichannel experience, can be a difficult move, especially for small to midsized companies.

“It’s that first step that can be the biggest hurdle,” Rowsell said.

Payment Players Make Strides

While some companies are pushing off making any significant changes to their payment solutions, others have taken steps to roll out new products and services to enhance the customer shopping experience.

Mastercard launched Masterpass, a digital payment service that allows customers to make quick and easy purchases. The credit card company has partnered with multiple banks to try to help consumers make mobile payments using banking apps. The service, which was rolled out in the U.S., will reportedly launch in Africa, Europe and the Middle East next year.

Meanwhile, Alibaba announced it is developing VR tech that can be used while browsing and buying from the company’s digital catalog. The Chinese internet giant has demonstrated versions of a customer-facing interface that enables customers to interact with an automated store employee while researching 3-D products from anywhere in the world.

The August edition of the Developer Tracker, powered by Vantiv, also features recent news and analysis, as well as about 130 providers, including several additions to the directory.

To download the August edition of the PYMNTS.com Developer Tracker, powered by Vantiv, click the button below …