Source: Press Release Service – Business
(PR.co.nz) The global pandemic has posed many challenges for New Zealand retailers who have had to adapt to a new way of doing business. Many shoppers have reduced their spending to essential items-only, like food and medicine, presenting an opportunity to be capitalised on for retailers who sell these items.
Overnight COVID-19 disrupted the payment behaviour of consumers…
Shoppers predominantly look for fast, convenient and safe service – how they can get in and out of stores as fast as possible, and with as little contact with others as possible.
The biggest trend we’ve seen is the adoption of contactless payment, especially tap and go. In fact, 75% of Kiwis claim they find contactless payment more convenient than other payment methods. COVID-19 has only increased the uptake of contactless given the risk of the virus spreading through surfaces. Now, retailers that DON’T offer tap and go risk losing shoppers to retailers that do.
“Now more than ever, payment has become a critical part of the shopper experience, and offering a FAST, CONVENIENT and SAFE payment experience is part of the consumer decision-making process when deciding where to shop,” said Dave Spicer, CEO of Activata Ltd.
“As a result of the global pandemic, we’ve seen hundreds of convenience stores take on contactless payment so as to provide a safe, fast, contactless, and increasingly local retail engagement with their customers.”
Not only have these retailers found their shop foot traffic has increased, but they are attracting NEW shopper types who RETURN time and again, simply by improving the convenience of shopping at their store.
“Typically, shoppers choose convenience stores over supermarkets when they are doing small ‘top up’ shops of essential items, and want to be in and out of the store as fast and as conveniently as possible,” said Nilesh Kumar Shah, owner of Quick Bites Convenience Store in Central Auckland.
“What we’ve found since introducing tap and go is that we’re able to serve more customers faster, giving them a more convenient shopping experience, and making them more likely to return.”
The big advantage of contactless payment methods like tap and go is fast moving queues, increasing the number of customers served, especially at peak times and with less resource, resulting in increased revenues for these stores.
“Based on what we’ve seen over the last three to four-months, it’s fair to say
contactless payment is no longer a nice-to-have but a necessity to meet shopper needs. While COVID-19 accelerated this, contactless payment is here to stay and failing to adapt is a missed opportunity for retailers to capitalise upon,” Spicer summarised.
If you’ve been putting off getting contactless payment in your store, the best time to act was yesterday—today this is essential.
Activata has over 15-years experience providing personalised payment experiences for retailers across New Zealand. Activata experts design exceptional payment experiences, and assists with every step of the payment process from shopper experience, queue busting and contactless payment, to eftpos terminals and equipment, and much more.
Contact Activata on 0800 960 00 or visit the website activata.co.nz.
Media Release 20 July 2020.