During the COVID-19 pandemic, the demand for digital goods and services has exploded as businesses have been forced online and customers have been shopping safely from home. Most of us experienced a much higher number of video calls that replaced face to face interaction, even birthday parties and weddings ceremonies were done via video these days. The digital conference tool Zoom experienced a huge spike in use on a single day in April, with 300 million people using its services.

Consequently, digital businesses are now reaching a critical mass, with demand coming in from new demographics and geographies, while payments are playing a critical role, enabling them to open up new markets and optimize the potential from existing customers.

So, in this blog I’ll explain the key areas for digital companies to consider, and how to reach what we call ‘peak payments conversion’.

With online shopping and deliveries making the retail experience more convenient, consumers are becoming increasingly happy to shop cross-border. Essentially, there are less barriers to them doing so, and being able to spread their search across countries means that they have a wider range of options when it comes to their purchases.

This is good news for retailers, because it means that their customer base is no longer restricted to one area. They may find that customers are more frequently ordering overseas, meaning that their products are reaching more people and creating a demand across the globe.

However, while cross-border purchases can present a whole host of opportunities for retailers, many don’t know how to cash in on these as they don’t have the right systems in place to process payments from far and wide. What’s more, cross-border payments can present a lot of new costs and overheads which can make businesses unsure if cross-border payments are an opportunity worth pursuing.

So, here are a few ways to make sure you’re making the most of cross-border opportunities.

“We are at the brink of massive digital acceleration” says Damien Perillat, our new head of the Global Online division of Ingenico since April of this year. 

Bringing fresh insight and a wealth of payments experience, we spoke with Damien to learn more about his new role and the rapid changes in the global economy and payments landscape.

It was back in March that restaurants and bars were ordered to shut by the UK government to help halt the spread of coronavirus. However, after weeks of shut doors and takeaway orders, hospitality venues are now due to reopen to customers in July, providing they can enforce social distancing measures and keep their customers and staff safe.

Keeping customers safe from an invisible virus requires both staff and customers to take a considerable amount of extra care during service. And even after ensuring there’s plenty of space between customers, and staff are following the appropriate hygiene procedures, there’s still measures hospitality venues can take to ensure optimal cleanliness and maintain the positive customer experience.

The EU Second Payment Services Directive (PSD2) is more than just a piece of regulation. It’s an opportunity for eCommerce companies to innovate, remove friction from the customer experience and better control the data that drives their businesses.

Recent months have shown that e-commerce isn’t just a convenient way to purchase goods and services, it’s a vital lifeline for consumers.