Q> How do I optimize omni-channel for the busy holiday selling season?
US online retail sales are projected to reach $334 billion this year according to Forrester and that will increase to $480 billion by 2019.[1] The mobile channel is a strong contributor to this growth: It made up more than 50% of the investment in mobile internet over the last year and is predicted to total almost 75% of all investments into mobile by 2018.[2] But consumers are not tied to one method of shopping; in fact, the use of multiple channels to make a purchase continues to grow. Consumers have been increasingly using showrooming – reviewing products at the brick-and-mortar store before purchasing online. Webrooming – where customers review products online before heading to a brick-and-mortar store to make the actual purchase – is a new growing trend, too. As we move into the holiday season, it’s important that merchants implement an omni-channel strategy that makes it as easy and safe as possible for consumers to make a purchase via their preferred channel(s).
This month, we compiled insight from industry leaders on how to protect and optimize payments across all channels as we move into the busiest selling season of the year.
Here is what the experts are saying:
- Get omni-channel savvy. Help your customers move seamlessly between in-store and online. Some consumers prefer to purchase online and then pick-up in-store; make that a convenient experience for them. Price-matching in-store to meet or
beat online offers can be beneficial, too. Consumers are always looking for the best deals, especially during the holidays. E-tailers can often have the upper hand unless brick-and-mortar stores step up and get in the game.
- Know your vertical. Many merchants have expressed concern about showrooming, fearing that customers will evaluate products at their store and then make the actual purchase online from a discount competitor. This is proving to not necessarily be the
- Dig into the data to protect omni-channel. Merchants should view omni-channel fraud as a data problem. Consolidating data across fulfillment channels can not only streamline fulfillment but help merchants determine the best fraud prevention tools to use on the appropriate channels. It’s common for merchants to feel like they are one step behind fraudsters, but collecting and analyzing data can actually help them stay two steps ahead.
- Get agile to prevent fraud and boost legitimate sales. While merchants are competing to quickly stop omni-channel fraud, the majority of merchants are still nervous about the blurring of card-present and card-not-present transactions. Many believe that
With the peak selling season quickly approaching, it’s important for merchants to get a solid omni-channel strategy in place to ensure that payments are protected across channels and to streamline and optimize the shopping experience. Surveys show 90% of retailers offer multiple service and purchasing channels to customers but only 35% believe they have adequate fraud management tools for effective fraud detection and prevention. Optimizing omni-channel without implementing a comprehensive fraud prevention strategy supported by an agile payment processing platform is a fruitless endeavor.
Verifi’s flexible, global payment processing platform can help you streamline and secure your payment processing across all channels. Our processor-agnostic “Super Gateway” offers the stability of a best-in-breed processing platform that is agile enough to evolve alongside tomorrow’s emerging threats. The Gateway plugs in with our fraud prevention tools to provide a frictionless, end-to-end experience. The Gateway works seamlessly with Verifi’s Intelligence® Suite, ensuring that you can consolidate your fraud prevention efforts through one integration with global control over all tools so you can test and toggle for each channel. Additionally, our Cardholder Dispute Resolution Network™ (CDRN) and Chargeback Representment (CBR) help protect your payments from expensive chargebacks across the entire transaction lifecycle. The “Super Gateway” provides omni-channel, end-to-end payment protection with customizable fraud tools, Total Chargeback Management and the ability to improve authorizations by up to 20%.
Don’t forget to download our updated ebook: What Every Card Not Present Merchant Should Know: Navigating Today’s Challenging Payment Ecosystem? Get it now!
Contact us to find out how to streamline and protect omni-channel payments from end-to-end during the peak selling season. What are your thoughts? Ping us on twitter (@verifi) with #paymentstips and let us know what you think.
[1] https://images.internetretailer.com/IR/Collections/090315_Norton_FestiveGoldRush.PDF
[2] https://www.fierceretail.com/mobileretail/story/m-commerce-driving-rapid-mobile-internet-growth/2015-05-26