No matter how fast the modern payment ecosystem is developing, the pursuit of the best customer experience isn’t going anywhere. To answer customers’ demands, business leaders must find the balance between adapting services to consumers’ digitally-driven shopping behaviors and staying true to the company’s strategy.
For retailers, the revolutionary payments shift towards cryptocurrency will certainly come with challenges, but it may all be worth it. Industry leaders such as Starbucks and Burger King are already embracing crypto payments. After all, offering this option opens the door to a whole new audience of more than 106 million people across the world that hold assets in cryptocurrency.
Here are three tips for implementing these changes into retail operations without compromising your business.
1. Consider accepting a third-party provider.
Although there’s currently no seamless solution to address the growing need for modern crypto-based payments, that is the future industry experts are aiming for. There are already a few platforms that accept crypto payments, including Bitpay and Coinbase. But for now there are very few alternatives that aren’t third-party hybrid providers.
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The issue with this is that both retailers and customers have to have accounts set up in the same exchange platform. It also requires businesses to create a digital wallet, obtain a shareable QR code and keep track of every checkout location. There are cross-wallet solutions, and while each of these work differently based on the exchange platform a business is using, they do provide a sense of crypto-inclusion.
The ideal of course is a unified payment experience that will not only connect all the available cryptocurrencies but also won’t present any additional obstacle to customers. Although there’s no such solution available right now in the market, the industry is working furiously to make it a reality in the near future.
2. Get ready for a technology retouch.
Do you ever think about the customer instincts at checkout? Most likely they will reach for their credit card or phone. We’re all used to traditional payment methods, and fully digitized payment solutions have not yet become mainstream. Payment terminals and tablets are simply not yet designed to execute cryptocurrency payments.
However, even if you’re not yet set up for in-store crypto payments, you can still integrate a digital currency option into your ecommerce or click-and-collect offering. This would allow your online customers to check out with crypto — whether it’s Bitcoin, Ethereum or even Dogecoin — and then have the product delivered or pick it up at a retail location.
3. Expect the need for a crypto manager.
10 years ago, not many business owners expected to have to manage their social media profiles, yet here we are. Today, no matter the size of your business, you need a social media expert driving your digital growth. The same will eventually be true for cryptocurrency.
Social Media Manager is now one of the highest-paid marketing roles, as these professionals must understand how to engage modern audiences online. The same applies to the futuristic role of a Crypto Manager. It needs to be someone who is active in the crypto community, has a finger on the pulse of the industry and can advise how to incorporate the latest blockchain trends into your retail operations.
While tech novelties may be tempting for customers, old payment habits die hard. Retailers must understand what customers are used to when it comes to checkout in order to ensure that the integration of new crypto payment options into that existing flow maintains a quality customer experience.
Sesie Bonsi is the CEO and Founder of the secure touchless payment solution Bleu. He is an attorney and expert in the areas of mobile technology and infrastructure, including global telecommunications regulations, mobile payment systems and financial regulations, and mobile commerce and social commerce regulations.
