Are You Ready for Cashless Consumers?

By
HeadQuest

About 41% of consumers said they plan to shift to using only digital payments within the next two years, or are already cashless. About 23% said they will never make the shift to digital payments only.

These new data, representing a global sampling, were published this week in the sixth edition ofthe  Visa Global Back to Business Study, which also found that 59%of small businesses are planning to shift to using only digital payments within the next two years, or are already cashless. About 16% of small businesses said they will never make the shift to digital payments only.

The Visa Back to Business Study was conducted by Wakefield Research in December 2021 and surveyed 2,250 small business owners and 5,000 consumer adults in the U.S., Brazil, Canada, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Russia, Singapore and UAE.

Consumers surveyed were asked to share their top three factors that influenced store purchasing choices. Top factors, outside of price, influencing store purchasing choice, according to consumers surveyed were:

  • Convenience (63%)
  • Good previous experience (60%)
  • Personal safety (54%)
  • Urgency for product or service (52%)
  • Accept digital payments (36%)

Top areas for growth in 2022, according to small businesses surveyed, are:

  • Offering new products or services (41%)
  • Increasing social media presence (40%)
  • New online channels (33%)
  • Investing more in marketing (33%)
  • Accepting new forms of payment (32%)

Additional small business findings:

  • 73% said they are optimistic about the future of their businesses, the highest level of optimism in the Visa Back to Business studies to-date.
  • 90% surveyed with an online presence said their survival through the pandemic was due to increased efforts to sell via e-commerce and reported that, on average, over half of their revenue (52%) came from online channels in the last three months.
  • 90% said they are optimistic about the future of their businesses, the highest level of optimism in Visa Back to Business studies to-date.

“As the COVID-19 pandemic moves into its third calendar year, it’s no longer just about pivoting and surviving – there’s a hopeful surge in entrepreneurship, as well as growing confidence and optimism among small businesses,” Visa said.

 

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