FreedomPay, a global leader in Next Level Commerce™ solutions, today announced the release of a new report that uncovers what’s important to retail and ecommerce executives when it comes to payments.

The report, titled Uncovering the Value of Payment Flexibility, Optionality, and Choice, finds that 93% of retail and ecommerce executives surveyed report that offering payment flexibility and choice to their customers is either “extremely important” (34%) or “very important” (59%) to their organization.

Further research in the report shows that retailers are taking action to give their customers choices.

Merchants offer their customers 5.9 different payment method choices on average, for example, and tend to add new methods fairly often — with 67% of retail and e-commerce executives surveyed indicating that they added one new payment within the past six months, and another 21% indicating that they added one or more payment methods more than six months but less than one year ago.

“Adding new payment methods helps businesses cater to diverse customer preferences, both regionally as well as globally, which can expand their customer base while also enhancing convenience for their customers and reducing cart abandonment rates,” says Chris Kronenthal, President of FreedomPay. 

FreedomPay’s new report, which is driven by the results of a survey of 150 executives at retail and e-commerce companies with annual revenues of $100 million and over, also reveals that:

• 74% of retail and e-commerce executives surveyed report that increasing the average amount spent per transaction by their customers is either “the top priority” (13%) or a “high priority” (61%) for their organization.
• 87% agree that adding new point-of-sale payment methods (such as buy now, pay later and installment loans) can increase the average amount spent per transaction.
• 91% agree that adding payment methods can bring in new customers.

“Providing options like installment loans and promotional financing empowers customers to align their payment methods with their financial preferences, enhancing their overall satisfaction,” says Kronenthal. “Working with a partner like FreedomPay helps retailers and ecommerce businesses unlock more opportunities to serve more customers with more payment options without compromising security.”

FreedomPay’s full report explores what offering flexibility and choice in payments looks like, the most important criteria retailers and ecommerce businesses have when assessing new payment methods, and more. To access the full report, click here.