INDUSTRY AFFAIRS
Helping Merchants in the Time of COVID-19 Provide education on contactless payments, evolving e-commerce strategies, and advanced security solutions to facilitate transactions during a pandemic By Amy Zirkle
T
he coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has forced the world to change. Among the hardest hit have been our industry’s customers: businesses of all sizes providing a range of products and services to consumers. What was once a given—face-to-face interaction, inperson retail, packed restaurants and bars—may slowly re-emerge with modifications. For many businesses, the coming weeks and months will be defined by their ability to adapt and think of new ways to provide their products and enable payments. ETA members are stepping up to the plate to help. Our industry has many opportunities to increase merchants’ understanding of the full range of digital payments that will sustain merchants in the current environment and guide them toward success as we come out on the other side of the pandemic.
In-Person Payments
A clear challenge to merchants in a time of social distancing is conducting in-person commerce in a way that is safe as states open their economies back up—but don’t completely eliminate restrictions on doing business. How might merchants be sustained while adhering to restrictions on in-person business and supported in a post-COVID-19 world? The answer lies in the types of solutions that are not necessarily new but have shown to be essential in helping merchants in this period. A prominent example is the use of contactless payments. When ETA and The Strawhecker Group (TSG) surveyed small business owners in late March, 27 percent of those accepting contactless payments reported an increase in their use after the start of the pandemic. Contactless payments offer consumers, many of whom are wary of the surfaces they touch, a way to quickly and securely pay for their goods without touching terminal equipment or having cash exchange hands. Payments technology providers can help merchants tap into this growing trend by educating them on how to activate contactless payments. Make sure that your merchants know that their EMV equipment can be leveraged to accept contactless payments and help them 10 Spring 2020 | TRANSACTION trends
market this function to their customers. ETA anticipates that more consumers will be using contactless payments as we transition out of the pandemic, and payments companies can help merchants meet their customers’ needs. Additionally, smart terminals, mobile point of sale, and other integrated payments products can help merchants get online and adopt new ways of reaching their customers through mobile order-ahead, delivery, and marketing. For years, payments companies have offered more than credit card terminals—and their product suites include marketing tools that can be essential in helping SMBs stay afloat and retain their customers. In turn, these tools can help you retain your merchants, so be sure that you are arming your sales teams with the full range of product availability for your merchants to access these types of solutions. And if you don’t currently offer them, be on the lookout to make new partnerships at ETA events–including TRANSACT Connect—to help deliver these solutions.
Online Advances
Since the start of the pandemic, the global attention on ecommerce has been intense. According to Adobe Analytics,