The Pandemic pulled forth Omnicommerce faster than Video Killed the Radio Star. It is no longer a two channel system of face-to-face and eCommerce. Omnicommerce expands the channels and experiences to offer on-demand, delivery, curbside pick-up, in-person and mobile. Social media and voice activated devices continue to add dimensions. Businesses must adapt and combine online and offline interactions with a payment system which supports the interactions, inventory and transactions demanded by Omnicommerce.
Payments must remain fast, seamless and efficient yet evolve to account for the multitude of entry points. In this way, consumers will be rewarded and continue to engage and adopt new payment methods. The stakes are high, however as the converse is also true.
Unified experiences or bust
Customers demand a unified experience. They may purchase in one channel but they can and do return through another. POS systems must be able to retrieve card data and perform reference refunds such that the card data is not stored but the reference to the purchase may be pulled and the tokenized card may be credited.
This provides for an efficient consumer experience while remaining PCI compliant A friend relayed how easy it was to return a purchase that his wife made on Amazon. He indicated he would return the items at a Whole Foods store and received a QR code. He walked into the store with the items and had them scan the QR code. He received a credit to his account the following morning.
Mother necessity and inventory management
Inventory management must track SKU location and be able to accept returns even if an item is not sold through the channel where the return occurs. I recently exchanged a power tool at a Big Box retailer which was purchased online. It was excruciating. The online model was exactly the same as the floor model but because the online model was bundled with other items, I needed to return the entire set even though the floor model was identical to what was purchased online. Because of a different online pricing scheme, staff were not allowed to exchange a floor model with one purchased online. This experience was so full of seams, by comparison, Frankenstein’s head would be unblemished.
Inventory management must go further and delineate inventory by buckets such as
On-hand inventory
Sold but not shipped inventory that much be deducted and
Ordered but not received inventory that must be added
Reporting, tracking and marketing required
Merchants must be able to track customer spend over differing channels and provide guidance for marketing investment. This insight will assist businesses with content creation and promotions which will be more meaningful and personalized. The engagement should meet customers where they are and pair the technological sophistication of the consumer to that of the marketing based on their history.
After operating in pilot mode for the past nine months, Bank Transfer by Worldline is now officially launching in ten European countries as part of an effort to revive its A2A payment processing services.
The account-to-account service is now integrated into roughly 500 of Worldline’s existing merchants’ online payment services and pay-by-link options. It is particularly aimed at businesses that handle high-value transactions, such as those in specialty retail, the public sector, and B2B payments. Additionally, Bank Transfer by Worldline offers cross-border capabilities for merchants operating in multiple markets.
After a difficult period, Worldline has been seeking new revenue opportunities beyond its core merchant payments business. Last month, the company announced its entry into embedded payments via a partnership with Online Payment Platform (OPP), a provider of payment technology for platforms and marketplaces. This initiative was billed as a suite of turnkey features across multiple currencies, designed to help users sign-up, sell, and get paid faster.
Earlier this year, Worldline announced a collaboration with Google, planning to leverage Google Cloud’s advanced AI capabilities and data analytics to streamline online transactions by eliminating lengthy forms, reducing checkout pages, and minimizing waiting times at checkout. A pioneer in cloud processing, Worldline also launched its “Move to Cloud” initiative in 2022, aimed at migrating payment processing infrastructure and creating new solutions through cloud computing.
A Rough Patch
Such moves seemed necessary to prop up the company’s fortunes. Between July 2021 and September 2024, Worldline’s stock price lost 92% of its value, and the company reported a loss of €817 million last year.
Worldline has attributed its struggles to a slowing European economy. “The Group has observed a softer macroeconomic and consumption environment in the second quarter with a progressive slowdown of the merchant services volumes growth across all the geographies in Europe,” Worldline said in an earnings statement.
It remains to be seen whether Bank Transfer by Worldline will be the use case that turns the company around. The service is currently available in several regions, including Austria, France, Germany, and Italy, with plans to add Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic, and Hungary by the end of the year. Worldline claims that the full rollout will enable merchants to accept payments from a potential customer base of 300 million.
