In an interview published on Business Reporter, Paul Marcantonio, executive director of U.K. and Western Europe at Ecommpay, spoke about how merchants have been impacted and where e-commerce is heading post-COVID-19.
“Be agile,” Marcantonio said. “We have all seen how fast the landscape can change. You have to be flexible to make changes to your business strategy, operations and even markets.”
The shift to online trading has presented many retailers with a number of challenges including new customer expectations, a change to the way stock and orders are managed and a need to address the end-to-end customer journey. An efficient “click and collect” system is particularly important.
It is not just High Street shops that have been affected. Many online retailers have also had to adapt to the expansion in trade and the increase in cross border transactions where localized payment solutions are needed.
Furthermore, with incomes generally diminished by the pandemic, shoppers are cautious and are shopping around more, meaning that retailers, online and offline, need to up their game, offering a slick user experience, especially during check out, the report said.
With an uptick in online transactions comes an increase in fraud. Retailers need to establish efficient fraud-prevention systems. This requires a two-part strategy: machine-learning fraud systems supplemented by good old-fashioned professional human overview.
