Study Finds Payment Choice More Important Than 33 Other Features When Choosing a Merchant

More than 80% of consumers use digital features as part of their shopping experiences, online and in-store. These “digital enthusiasts” and “digital mainstream” shoppers are younger and more affluent than most, making up 92% of the country’s millennials and 88% of the country’s high-income consumers. When it comes to favorite features, payment choice tops their list.

While it’s one of several core features that legions of digital-centric consumers look for anywhere they shop, payment choice is by no means alone on that list, as we found in “The 2023 Global Digital Shopping Index: U.S. Edition,” a PYMNTS and Cybersource collaboration.

Gleaned from a six-nation study of nearly 13,350 consumers and over 3,120 merchants in Brazil, India, Mexico, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the U.S., the GDSI U.S. Edition found that nearly 12% (11.8%) of shoppers ranked payments choice as the “most important” feature, and close to half (48.4%) called it very or extremely important.

For their number two pick, shoppers said free shipping wins and the GDSI-U.S. states that “Free shipping is another cost-saving feature consumers are prioritizing more as prices continue to rise, with 47% of consumers ranking free shipping as a very or extremely important feature, and 5.9% saying free shipping is the most important feature they want merchants to provide.

Moving on, 41% of consumers said rewards programs are very or extremely important when choosing merchants, and 6.2% said rewards programs are the most decisive feature for them.

Per the GDSI-US, “Other cost-saving features consumers prioritized highly in 2022 included coupons, BNPL options, and guaranteed refunds for fraudulent charges. In total, 21% of consumers cited at least one cost-saving feature as the most important factor they consider when choosing merchants, begging the question of how much farther such features can go in incentivizing shoppers as prices continue to rise.”

Also making the cut and getting toward the top of the list are merchant features including rewards programs (6.2% said it was the most important, 34.7% said rewards are very or extremely important), and easy-to-navigate online in-store and shopping carts (4% said this was the most important, 42.2% said it very or extremely important).

Get your copy: The 2023 Global Digital Shopping Index: U.S. Edition