The acceleration of e-commerce has made strong digital payment capabilities essential, but many organizations still face a variety of payment system challenges that are pushing them to prioritize payment technology investments, according to a commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of TreviPay. More than 90% of the merchant respondents have experienced challenges with their organizations’ payment systems or technology. As a result, 37% report losing sales opportunities and grappling with decreased customer satisfaction.
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“Whether it’s in response to negative customer feedback or as a result of the acceleration toward e-commerce brought on by the pandemic, more organizations than ever recognize the advantages of having a modernized digital payment strategy, including for their B2B customers,” said Brandon Spear, CEO of TreviPay, a global B2B payments company. “The research shows investments in finance applications, systems and processes are a top digital transformation priority for merchants. This signals a likely widespread improvement in merchants’ digital payments is on the horizon, which will provide better experiences for customers and ultimately streamline business operations.”
Lengthy billing processes are the number one payments system or technology challenge facing respondents. However, the study also found that while surveyed respondents’ organizations offer 4.7 payment methods on average, 70% report their organizations can’t provide certain customer-requested payment methods, with blockchain being the most common. More than half of respondents also reported that their organizations aren’t able to provide certain types of payment plans, such as installments. Lost sales opportunities and decreased customer satisfaction are the top business repercussions reported by respondents that resulted from payment challenges, followed closely by damaged brand perception and decreased customer confidence.
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The study also found:
- 31% of respondents said payment challenges reduce their organizations’ appetite for innovation or digital transformation.
- 95% of respondents report the need to make improvements to their company’s payment capabilities to better serve their customers.
- 50% of respondents have been able to free up working capital by improving the payment options and terms for B2B customers.
- 48% have reduced time-to-payment by improving payment options and terms for B2B customers.
The full study from Forrester Consulting commissioned by TreviPay offers analysis on how merchants evolve their payment offerings in the face of rising customer expectations and ongoing business and technological challenges. Conducted in April 2021, the research surveyed 200 decision-makers of accounts receivables and payments strategy from the US, the UK, Canada, France, Germany and Australia.
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