According to a recent poll, 73 percent of merchants want to integrate crypto payments internally within the next three years. Furthermore, more than half of large merchants (those with revenues of $500 million or more) are currently investing at least $1 million in crypto payment infrastructure.
The “Merchants Getting Ready for Crypto” survey was performed in collaboration with PayPal by auditing and consulting firm Deloitte.
The report interviewed 2,000 senior executives from various American retail firms from December 3 to 16. Fashion, cosmetics, electronics, hotel and leisure, home and garden, and digital goods businesses were among them. Others worked in services such as personal and household items, transportation, and food and beverage.
Crypto Payments Adoption Is Set to Rise Soon
According to the report, 85 percent of retailers believe that crypto payments will be “ubiquitous” in their respective industries in five years.
With a $100,000 – $1 million budget, 73 percent of those making $10 million to less than $100 million are expected to enable digital currency payments. This group exhibited the strongest interest in crypto payments, with revenue values ranging from under $10 million to over $500 million.
Over 60% of shops plan to invest $500,000 or more in crypto payment infrastructure this year. Digital currency payment alternatives are already in place at 26% of merchants. This group will likely include companies like Chipotle, Gucci, and AMC Entertainment.
Entities are increasingly accepting Crypto payments outside of the United States. Two examples are Thailand’s tourism industry and RCD Espanyol, the first La Liga team to embrace cryptocurrency.
According to the Deloitte poll, 93 percent of such organizations in the United States saw an increase in their consumer base.
“Organizations are predominantly partnering with third-party payment processors to enable digital currency payments, and there appears to be no correlation between their motivation for adoption, or their level of investment, and how they build out their digital currency capabilities. “
Factors that Motivate People, Challenges, and Solutions
According to the research, merchants’ adoption of cryptocurrency payments is largely influenced by their customers’ enthusiasm for the asset class. Clients have sought such linkages, according to 64% of them, and 83 percent estimate this enthusiasm to grow by 2022.
About half of these merchants believe that bitcoin adoption will improve customer experience. A comparable percentage believe it would attract more customers, and 40% believe it will express a “cutting edge” brand.
The most difficult aspect of merchant crypto adoption (45 percent) was the complexity of integrating crypto payments with legacy systems, particularly when several digital assets were involved.
“Merchants recognize several challenges when considering the enablement of digital currency payments. Among them, they consider the complexity of integration as the greatest challenge.”
Other roadblocks were security concerns (43%), changing legislation (37%), crypto volatility (36%), and a lack of funds (36%).
According to Deloitte, “continuous education” will provide much-needed regulatory certainty, removing the worries and ambiguities surrounding crypto adoption.
“Our survey confirms the direction and strength of the trajectory toward broad adoption of digital currency payment solutions across US retail organizations. Respondents understand the value and benefits of such capability and have taken steps toward enablement.”
