US retailers resolve to even up online, in-store experiences: Survey

Nineteen per cent of them prefer to shop in stores with the assistance of digital technologies, and 11 per cent prefer to make purchases online for in-store pick-up. Three-quarters of shoppers want to be able to use their preferred payment methods in the store.

Visa said recently that amid 4.8-per cent growth in overall holiday shopping, 77 per cent of holiday payment volume happened at brick-and-mortar establishments versus 23 per cent online, showing the in-store experience remains important for the consumer. In-store spending was up by 4.1 per cent compared to last year, accelerating from 2023 year-on-year (YoY) gains of 1.6 per cent.

At the same time, the accumulation of card debt (the average balance is north of $5,000) means that consumers are finding it useful, and perhaps even necessary, to stagger payments over time.

Card-linked offers, in addition, likely can keep consumers aware of, and incentivised by, the opportunity to earn rewards, discounts and cash back, a release from Visa said.

Forty-three per cent of consumers said that whether their preferred financing option is available strongly influences their choice of retailer.

Among users of general-purpose credit card-linked installment plans, 35 per cent reported using these plans more frequently over the past year. Moving the financing options and the digital presentation of offers earlier into the buying process can help boost merchants’ sales conversions.

Consumers spend more than twice as much on retail items when using general-purpose card-linked installment plans than what we might term ‘pure play’ buy now, pay later (BNPL) options.

With some granularity on the appeal in the brick-and-mortar channel, for in-store transactions, US-based merchants said consumers’ use of general-purpose credit card-linked installment plans is growing more than their use of BNPL.

Eighty-two per cent of merchants reported growth in consumers’ use of card-based installment options during in-store checkout across 2024.

ALCHEMPro News Desk (DS)