What's Happening?
A recent study conducted by BR-DGE, a payment orchestration provider, reveals that 92% of enterprise e-commerce merchants have experienced payment outages or disruptions in the past two years. The research
surveyed 50 decision-makers from sectors including retail, travel, and digital services, uncovering significant resilience gaps within the payments ecosystem. Notably, half of the merchants reported that these payment failures resulted in revenue losses ranging from £1.1 million to £10 million. Additionally, 54% of merchants indicated that payment issues have delayed or prevented their entry into new markets. In response, BR-DGE has introduced the 'Payments Resilience Playbook', designed to assist e-commerce teams in fortifying their payment infrastructure. The study also highlights a high concentration risk, with 71% of merchants routing most transactions through a single provider, increasing vulnerability during outages.
Why It's Important?
The findings underscore the critical role of payment resilience in the growth and stability of enterprise e-commerce merchants. Payment failures not only lead to substantial revenue losses but also damage customer trust and hinder market expansion. As merchants increasingly view payment resilience as a growth strategy, the ability to maintain a flexible and interoperable payment infrastructure becomes essential. This shift from seeing resilience as merely a safety net to a strategic growth component reflects the evolving priorities of merchants in safeguarding revenue and customer loyalty. The introduction of the 'Payments Resilience Playbook' by BR-DGE aims to address these challenges, providing practical guidance to enhance payment systems and mitigate risks associated with outages.
What's Next?
Merchants are likely to adopt the strategies outlined in the 'Payments Resilience Playbook' to improve their payment systems. This includes building redundancy, flexibility, interoperability, optimization, and future-readiness into their payment infrastructure. As merchants implement these strategies, they may experience reduced outage-related losses and improved customer retention. Additionally, the focus on payment resilience could lead to increased investment in technology and infrastructure upgrades, fostering innovation in the payments sector. Stakeholders, including payment providers and technology firms, may collaborate to develop solutions that address the technical integration challenges identified in the study.
