
Payment Options

Google announced yesterday a new service designed to help retailers take on Amazon — and give Google a cut of their sales in the process. The service, Shopping Actions (formerly known as Google Express), gives consumers an easy way to shop for retailers’ products on the Google Assistant app and search via Google Search with…
Cryptocurrency may be the future of money, but it’s a tough sell in the retail world right now, and for good reason. The most familiar cryptocurrency unit, bitcoin, has been on a roller-coaster ride for the past few months, rising to a peak value near $20,000 in December 2017 before crashing below $6,000 in early…
As a leader in the “ready to assemble” cabinetry industry, The RTA Store has withstood the test of time by creating strong customer loyalty. The products that The RTA Store sells typically aren’t impulse purchases. Rather, buying cabinetry is often viewed as an expensive and time-consuming part of creating and maintaining a household. Customers, who…
“Alexa, place an order for AAA batteries.” This simple request is just one example of the millions of purchases made each day by digital assistants. As connected devices like Amazon’s Alexa or Google Home become more mainstream, the very act of going to the store to buy batteries, for example, is becoming antiquated. But as…
In episode 134 of Total Retail Talks, recorded earlier this year at the National Retail Federation's Big Show in New York City, Steve Wilder, CFO and CIO of City Furniture, a South Florida-based furniture, mattress and home accessories retailer, discusses how the launch of three mobile apps has helped the company's store associates personalize and…
Retaining customers and winning repeat sales has never been more important as retailers face increasing competitive pressure. This is true now more than ever, since just a few retailers control such a large share of consumer shopping. The top 10 merchants generated 51 percent of revenues earned by all the brands on the National Retail…
Amazon.com is considering partnering with Wall Street's top banks in an effort to build a "checking account-like" product for customers, according to a report in Monday's Wall Street Journal. Reportedly, the online retailer is in early talks with financial institutions including J.P. Morgan and Capital One Financial Corp. to help launch the accounts, which would be…
If there’s any reliable barometer for the picture of retail throughout the year, it’s Black Friday — the day retailers plan to bring in their biggest sales figures and customers in droves. At close of Black Friday last year, in-store sales were down less than 1 percent year-over-year, according to ShopperTrak, considerably better than the…
As the largest online-only home improvement retailer, Build.com regularly had customers in search of big-ticket items needed to complete home remodels and updates. The challenge for the retailer was that many consumers couldn’t afford to make the purchases without credit, and they ultimately went on to purchase from another retailer that could offer them credit…
Since founding my payment technology company, I’ve been living and breathing payments trends in retail. Over the last five years or so, projections have been all over the place: Is Black Friday dead? Is anyone still going to malls? Do consumers feels safe using their credit cards? As of early December, the stock market was…