Businesses that don't allow card payments are making customers' life difficult
People like paying with plastic and those businesses that don’t enable easy card payment methods risk destroying themselves, a new survey suggests.
According to a report by Worldpay, 60,000 of small and medium-sized businesses (SMB) in the UK are "making life difficult" for those that dislike carrying cash around and they’re risking ruining their own businesses because of it.
A quarter (25 percent) of consumers have started avoiding businesses that don’t take cards, the report says, with a further 30 percent saying they only use cash when it’s "absolutely necessary".
Almost two thirds (60 percent) of people aged 24 - 34 do not prefer to carry any cash around. Still, 10 percent of businesses don’t take card payments, and further 10 percent impose a lower limit on non-cash payments.
"For today’s digitally driven shoppers, cash has become a relic. It’s easy to see why that’s the case, as innovations like contactless and mobile payments continue to raise the bar in terms of speed, simplicity and convenience", says Dave Hobday, UK managing director at Worldpay.
"For consumers, being able to pay by which ever method they choose is a minimum requirement of what it means to be a modern retailer".
The problem extends beyond just credit cards, it was also said. Less than a quarter (20 percent) of businesses offer the flexibility of paying online and in-store, as well.
"Consumers take for granted the ability to flit between in-store and online channels -- and they expect retailers to provide the same flexibility, regardless of their size", continued Hobday.
"Our national High Street to iStreet campaign is designed to help small and independent retailers embrace technology to enable them to offer the type of experience that modern consumers expect and has, until now, largely been the preserve of larger high-street stores".
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