Shift to Mobile Payments Could Reduce Friction in the Customer Journey

 Having spent the last two and half days hyper-focused on customer experience at the CXFS event in Boston, MA the subject of delivering optimized engagements with consumers, especially thorough the transactional aspect is top of mind. The opportunity to further integrate the branded consumer experience and extend the engagement beyond the contained in-store interaction is being increasingly realized by retailers.

Walmsley explained: “Paying with their mobile phone or through an app offers customers a way to complete the process after they enter a store. However, retailers need to ensure that they have an end-to-end connected experience to engage with customers, on their chosen platform, at all the interaction points with their brand. The integration of mobile technology can offer a seamless, omnichannel experience that supports the customer journey, winning over new customers, retaining the loyalty of existing customers and potentially increasing sales.”

“Card transactions and contactless technology supplanting cash as the most popular form of payment is undoubtedly a significant milestone for the retail industry,” Walmsley said. “However, retailers must ensure that, regardless of how consumers choose to pay, they continue to provide a frictionless experience. It is clear that mobile and contactless technology is going to disrupt the payments process, which has remained largely the same for decades, but there are limitations to these innovations.

Mercator Advisory Group agrees customer experience enhancement takes place when a consumer is provided with the opportunity to use their own preferred method of payment. We contend the enhancement to the overall interaction is magnified with personalization of the experience possible with mobile payment platforms. The reduction of friction in the overall consumer experience is mile-marker in the evolutionary process underway in better understanding individual consumers and catering to their wants and needs.

Overview by Joseph Walent, Associate Director, Customer Interactions Advisory Service at Mercator Advisory Group

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