Is Your Payment Gateway Setting Your Business up for Success in the Growing Digital Economy?

Digital commerce was on the rise long before 2020, but COVID-19 dramatically increased the rate at which consumers were shifting their shopping habits from brick-and-mortar to online storefronts, which they access from their phones, tablets, or computers. Even as the pandemic wanes, however, there’s no going back. The digital economy is here to stay, with all signs pointing to continued growth.

What does this mean for billing? First and foremost, that businesses wanting to thrive must adopt robust payment platforms that connect virtual shopping carts and POS systems to back-office billing activities, enabling a world-class digital commerce experience for every customer. Because above all, customers are looking for a great experience with the businesses they buy from, and unfortunately, that's easier said than done. It means allowing them to buy where they want (brick-and-mortar, online storefront, mobile app, etc.), how they want (anything from credit cards to programs like Shopify and AfterPay to digital currencies), and when they want.

What’s Really at Stake for Billing in the Digital Economy?

How important is staying ahead of the billing curve, exactly? Well, for starters, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that 20 percent of small businesses fail within their first year, 30% by the end of their second year, 50% within five years, and a whopping 70% within the first decade.

Of course, there are several reasons businesses may fail, from poor market research to inexperienced leadership. But a CBInsights analysis of the top reasons startups fail indicates that billing and customer service have a significant impact on those successes and failures. Here are a few data points:

• 19% of small businesses failed because they were outcompeted
• 18% failed because of pricing and cost issues
• 17% failed because they lacked a business model
• 14% failed because they ignored their customers

Individually, none of these reasons causes the majority of business failures, but collectively, they point to trends of poor customer experience (ignored customers), lack of agility (were outcompeted), and unsophisticated pricing and billing models (pricing issues and lack of business model).

And what can go a long way in resolving any one of these issues? A robust billing solution designed to empower agility in an ever-changing landscape, enable varied, and complex billing models. Moreover, providing a preferred customer experience through every channel.

Setting Yourself Up for Digital Commerce Success

Your business' payment gateway can be its superpower or its kryptonite. As business models become more complicated in response to digital disruption and changing consumer demands, they require billing systems that can keep up. The systems that did the trick for traditional one-off transactions, brick-and-mortar-only sales, or low volumes of simple subscriptions are no longer enough, and today many businesses see their legacy systems as barriers to growth.

A sophisticated billing system designed to meet the current and future needs of both businesses and consumers can help any company — garage startup or global enterprise — beat the odds.

The right platform will enable your organization’s front office — digital and physical — to keep customers happy while optimizing your back office operations, ultimately creating the transparency, efficiency, and flexibility you need to thrive in the growing digital economy.

Of course, like every field, the billing industry is crowded with vendors offering solutions for growing businesses. So, what should you look for in a vendor that can support you in the digital economy? For starter, look for Gotransverse’s billing platform which will give you the:

• Ability to serve customers in multiple countries or regions.
• Compatibility with a wide variety of payment channels and methods.
• Security and reliability to handle customer data and processing
• Capability to handle multiple, complex billing models
• Elasticity and capacity to handle both influxes and dips in transaction volumes
• Flexibility in product catalog that makes it easy to launch new products and services, repackage existing offerings, create promotions, and identify cross-sell and upsell opportunities
• Visibility into every workflow and every step of the billing process
• Simplicity in seamless integrations with front-and back-office solutions

Overall, a partner that is willing to get to know your industry and your organization, working with you to configure a billing system that meets your unique needs to propel your business' growth.

At Gotransverse, we pride ourselves on partnering with businesses in every industry to bring their billing practices up to speed for the digital age. Our agile billing platform was designed with disruption in mind, and our team is dedicated to helping clients meet — and exceed — their most critical business goals through sophisticated billing. If you’re ready to help your business beat the odds in this ever-changing market, we invite you to take a virtual tour to find out whether our platform is right for you. Then, when you’re ready, request a demo to learn more.