Key payment trends enabling the digital commerce industry

Importance of payment in digital commerce

Payment is the fundamental need for any online transaction. Payment entails the exchange of monetary information, funds and services between various parties. In the context of digital commerce, it forms an embedded agreement encompassing goods delivery and services including post-sales support and all liabilities and risks.


New payment technologies driving digital commerce

The outbound payment solutions have grown substantially over the years, thanks to the era of digitization. The retail industries offering online services have been shaken up with the rise of new payment technologies. Right from the mobile wallets to the personalized apps, consumers are looking forward for interactive shopping experience. The digital commerce players who are willing to stay ahead of the rapid payment technology transformation need to understand the key trends driving the digital commerce industry.

Let us have a look at the key payment technological trends that will help digital commerce industries in making shopping seamless and comfortable for customers.

• Digital payments – As we are heading towards digitization, the notion of cash and ATMs is slowly ending. This is happening because online payment offers flexibility, value and control as compared to cash. Digital payment offers the customers to securely store account information and preferences to personalize and automate payments online.
  Another important facet of digital payment is that it allows you to manage expenses and finances efficiently. The digital commerce leaders are providing extended services and offers that are customized according to customer needs and geographical location by leveraging digital payments.
  
  
• Mobile payments with NFC enabled smartphones – The Near Field Communication (NFC) smartphones offer best solutions for mobile payments. Numerous apps are available that offer user-friendly interfaces and make use of MCX readers and NFC-powered POS terminals enabling customers to make online payments.
  
  
• Smart watch payments – After mobile payments, the smartwatch payments are making waves in digital commerce industry. You can simply tap or wave your NFC-powered smartwatch over a POS machine to make a payment while buying a desired product. All you have to do is wave your wearable device at the shop counter to execute the transaction.
  
  
• Mobile apps – Nowadays, consumers are heavily utilizing mobile apps for buying and paying services or products. This is because it offers various benefits such as different payment options, coupons, flexibility, value and speed.
  
  
• Contextual Commerce – Social media, mobile devices and apps together are revolutionizing the approach of consumer payments. On the contrary, sellers are putting in a lot of efforts to make buying process simpler and more appealing to customers. Contextual commerce is all about displaying products or services that are relevant to the customers. The best examples for contextual commerce are Pinterest, Twitter and Facebook who are leveraging the buy button to attract customers and making the payment transfer process hassle-free. Thus, focusing on commerce, context and convenience can help in increasing the sales for any digital commerce business.
  
  
• Beacons and Sensors – Another new trend is beacon and sensors driving the payment industry. Enterprises are leveraging it to attract customers by offering quick sales and offers whenever they visit their location. It also enables customers to pay and buy a product without even stepping inside the store.