Almost half of European retailers are prepared to risk fraud if they gain greater sales as a result, a new study suggests.
For while one in four (26%) European merchants in the retail, digital goods and travel and hospitality sectors have experienced data theft, and 61% believe they are at greater risk of a data security breach than a year ago, 58% said they were more concerned about lost sales through basket abandonment online than about fraud, and 48% said they were willing to face a higher risk of fraud to gain more sales. Some 1,032 people took part in the study, Explore the payments investment choices of merchants around the globe.
“Our research shows how crucial digital channels are to the success of merchants across sectors,” said Andy McDonald, vice president, merchant payments at ACI Worldwide. “For many of them, the website is now their most important storefront, and seamless and frictionless customer experience are top priorities. However there shouldn’t be a trade-off between customer experience, sales growth and security. The right omnichannel strategy will offer customers a seamless payments experience, support loyalty and revenue growth while at the same time providing maximum security.”
The study also found that 80% of European merchants believe real-time payments would replace the use of debit and credit cards over time, with particularly strong agreement in the Netherlands (100%), Belgium (87%) and Germany (84%). More than three quarters (76%) believe this will help to save their business money as a result, since 63% believe they will reduce payment acceptance costs.
Almost half (48%) said they would invest more in payments technology in 2018.
“Real-time payments are clearly top of mind for merchants today,” continued McDonald. “Driven by customers’ shifting preferences in how they purchase and the channels they purchase through, merchants are finding the need to improve operating efficiency and customer service to maintain a competitive edge now and into the future.”
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