By Lee Jones
Ingenico, a Worldline brand
Merchants are under pressure to up their game and redesign and restructure every aspect of the customer journey as the world around them rapidly shifts to digital channels due to both consumer demand and the global pandemic.
Part of this is payments, which has remained relatively unchanged for years. But it has meant that brands have had to make significant adjustment in the definition of what "digital commerce" really entails. An omnichannel approach presents the brightest hope for developing new revenue streams.
However, the intricacies of acquiring and ensuring a smooth customer experience still represent a huge undertaking. Many brands are still managing thousands of transactions at one time or have a payments function that is set up separately per channel and/or geographical area.
As they scale, they can easily sell on an international or global level with multiple acquirers, but this can increase risk when it comes to reconciliation or even jeopardize connectivity, which could result in multiple failed transactions and revenue loss over time. Therefore, it is important that they know how to take their business to the next level.
In the new world of commerce successful companies are leveraging their payment data to optimize and grow the business across multiple channels. To remove complexities, merchants must look to the market for available expertise that offers centralized reconciliation, a single view, competitive rates for each transaction made and the facilitation capabilities to make the full payments process as easy as possible.
The end result is a seamless payment solution with simplified integration and certification processing, along with eased reconciliation, fast settlement and zero disruption for retailer—meaning they can focus on what they do best: providing quality goods and services to their loyal customers.
Advanced acquiring is challenging the status quo by providing game-changing payments technology to cover all in-store and online needs. With alternative payments becoming the norm in many countries, offering the preferred payment methods in those specific markets is vital to boost conversions and drive customer loyalty.
However, the multiplication of payment methods across various channels requires a partner able also to process and centralize all these payment methods into a single platform and provide clear monitoring. It is for this reason that the solution provides not only acceptance but also payment processing. Critically, this type of advanced acquiring offers increased flexibility for retailers, including consolidated reporting, pricing controls, and cross-border capabilities.
Having full visibility over the payments process will empower retailers to avoid having to deal with fraud risks and unforeseen fluctuations in consumer behavior or transaction volumes, as well as manage costs effectively, thereby increasing room for further growth and profit.
It is important to choose a partner who is acquirer agnostic and has global expertise in payment technology, card acceptance and acquiring. This is because it provides the foundation for a consolidated payments system. Such partners provide merchants with the tools that help them manage business performance proactively, keep one step ahead of the game and serve their omnichannel customers, who are keen to buy whenever, wherever and however they want.
This means that they will only need to work with the one provider for all their payment needs, safe in the knowledge that acquirer agreements will be managed on their behalf. The consolidation the entire payment flow with a single partner translates into significant cost savings for omnichannel businesses. The right provider should handle all complexities, freeing up their resources to enable them to differentiate in other business areas.
This is achieved through the latest advanced acquiring solutions. Merchants that take advantage of such solutions benefit from trusted expertise to assist them in delivering their expansion strategy in their home market or across borders, as well as help them grow their footprint by offering the most relevant payment methods for their markets.
Regardless if companies want to accept payments online or in-store, they can benefit from an end-to-end solution to cover all their payments needs, improve cash management with some of the fastest payouts on the market, lower acquiring fees thanks to an acquiring engine offering a best-in-class scheme fee model, and keep track of their transactions and settlements into one unified omnichannel reporting solution.
As the commerce game continues to evolve, merchants must plan to adapt to the constantly changing consumer expectations of our connected world, demanding better,
easier, and safer ways to pay, using any device or channel they prefer, irrespective of the buyer/seller's location.
As businesses are looking to ease their payments pain points by strengthening their core capabilities, finding tailored solutions that solve their unique challenges is the only way to remain competitive and prepared. 
Lee Jones is Director of Sales – Grocery, QSR and Selected Accounts for Northern Europe at Ingenico, a Worldline brand. As such he is the company's commercial leader in Northern Europe. Having held a variety of leadership roles with market leading technology companies over a 20-year period, Lee is passionate about driving solutions that deliver real value to his customers, and he is proud of the trust customers have placed with Ingenico and his team. Being able to help organizations reduce the cost, complexity and burden of PCI while assuring their revenues and enabling them to increase their customer satisfaction scores is at the heart of the Ingenico strategy. Worldline is the European leader in the payments and transactional services industry and No. 4 player worldwide. With its global reach and its commitment to innovation, Worldline is the technology partner of choice for merchants, banks and third-party acquirers as well as public transport operators, government agencies and industrial companies in all sectors. To find out more, please visit www.ingenico.co.uk/omnichannel.
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