Easy Digital Payments Help Main Street SMBs Counter Click-And-Deliver Rivals

As the old way of doing business went out the window last year, Main Street stores shifted quickly to meet new consumer demand for convenience and comfort by embracing contactless and touchless technologies and by stepping up their online game.

While the speed at which small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) adapted has been widely reported and lauded, and the cost of those investments have proven to be money well spent, none of the digital upgrades would have been possible had it not been for an array of technology providers and innovations that, in many cases, had already been in the works for years.

As a result, when necessity called, the payments industry was able to rapidly answer.

“We set a goal in 2020 to help digitize 50 million SMBs globally and we’ve invested significantly to help that progress,” Visa SVP, global head of strategy, Michele Herron told PYMNTS’ Karen Webster. “And we have helped to digitize 16 million SMBs globally so far, so we’re 30% of the way along that journey.”

Read more: New Pandenomics Study: 76 Percent of SMBs Say Local Economies Still on Recovery Road

Visa’s digitization push for SMBs involved bundling a kind of “digital experience in a box” with the company providing a series of toolkits containing everything they need to get themselves online. The kits, which include tools for getting online, protecting that business once it’s there, marketing and managing inventory, were backed up by a series of events that aimed to help SMBs connect with consumers via digital channels.

Herron said they’ve helped SMBs to get online and start making sales in double quick time. She said one of her most memorable anecdotes involves a small restaurant group in Utah led by a group of women that saw their business come to a complete halt in the early days of the pandemic as their physical premises were forced to close down. But within a week of adopting Visa’s tools, they were back in business.

“They got up, they got live, they were selling merchandise online,” Herron said. “Then they were doing online pickup and delivery. And there are just so many great stories out there of businesses that have reconnected and remodeled the way that they do business, and these tools have helped tremendously.”

Herron said the digital experience in a box concept is proof that if SMBs place their trust in technology and all the different providers out there, it can really help make the digital journey proceed much more smoothly.

Further reading: Tech & Flex: Main Street SMBs Prep for 2021’s Year-End Push

“My message consistently to small businesses is to really learn about all of the options out there and embrace technology,” she said.

Besides the help from technology providers, SMBs have also benefited from a readiness among consumers to embrace the change, Herron said. Although some consumers may have been hesitant about the “new normal” of online commerce and touchless payments, most have been quick to embrace it, she said.

Citing Visa’s own data, Herron said, “Sixty-eight percent of consumers are now demanding to pay in a contactless or touchless fashion, and they say they’re not going to change.”

The same eagerness to transition to digital is seen with SMBs too, Herron said. One year ago, Visa’s surveys showed that 17 percent of SMBs were ready to go digital, but fast-forward one year and now it’s more like 6 in 10 small businesses that are planning to do so.

Also see: 68% of Main Street SMBs Saw Sales Grow After Digital Investments

“People are really hearing the message that commerce has changed, that our societies are changing and I think they’re really embracing the opportunity to change the client experience,” Herron said.

The progress so far has been little short of astonishing, but SMBs still have some way to go if they’re to match the larger retailers in terms of convenience. At the same time, there’s a huge potential for Main Street stores to gain a competitive edge if they can do this, because consumers generally prefer to buy local if they can.

“Consumers have good intentions and they want to support local businesses, but it’s just easier if you can get something from a big online retailer and have it delivered the very next day,” she said. “So if SMBs can find that edge to make that experience a little bit better for their clients, that will really help them to overcome and to succeed, and we know consumers want them to.”