Without a doubt, the days of Covid-19 not only affect all of us as individuals and households, but also continue, and will continue, to spread customer experience expectations and economic effects by changing the sector dynamics...
Many people are more interested in food and basic needs than ever before, and they are going through a period where they postpone their luxury consumption and take precautions in spending. Even though we are entering the normalization process, we prefer to do our shopping mostly by ordering online or even by phone without leaving the house and going to the store or sales point, unless we have to.
The World Health Organization's announcement at the beginning of March that virus infection is also possible through money also lead consumers to make payments by contactless and mobile payment solutions, triggering a major change in the experience. Now, we don't even want to touch our wallets while making payments, we want to complete the shopping with minimum contact and maximum speed without touching credit cards and money. The expectation of completing the shopping in a fast and contactless way is seen not only on the consumer side but also on the cashiers, couriers, and all service providers working in the field.
In this period, banks increased their contactless payment limits and contributed to the expectations of the consumers. Based on some Turkish and Global research findings;
In addition to hygiene and safety, one of the prominent criteria for choosing contactless and mobile payments is that it is fast.
The number of contactless payments nearly tripled in March compared to last year, and 2.5 million contactless cards were used for the first time in this period (BKM).
Contactless payment is preferred by 63 percent of consumers for shopping with cards, and contactless payment has doubled in the last two months. While 53 percent of consumers find contactless payment more hygienic, 40 percent say they prefer contactless payment because it is faster. (Mastercard Turkey).
In the research, it is seen that the first-ever experiences of consumers in this period will turn into permanent habits in the post-virus period. (RTI Research)
For example, the rate of those who placed orders online for the first time in this period was 33%; and 54% of this group will continue to place their orders online in the post-virus period.
While the rate of those who tried contactless and mobile payments for the first time was 30% in this period, it is reported that 70% of this group will continue this experience in the post-virus period.
At Tanı, we observe in our Chippin program that mobile payment will gain more and more importance in the shopping World with the new normal.
Chippin is our customer program that offers a mobile payment experience to its users with both chain and local brands at more than 2,000 merchant locations. Before the Covid-19 days, we were collecting the insights of our users about mobile payments, doing research at regular intervals, and listening to their voices. In our surveys, especially our female customers had the tendency to make fast and convenient payments using their phones without searching for a wallet in their bag or taking out a card. It was among the crystal-clear messages we received that the young people wanted to make payment by mobiles in this period in which they spent time with their smartphones, the indispensable assets in their lives.
Contactless, fast and secure payment requests continue to spread and to grow. Today, our member brands, which offer alternative solutions to their customers with Chippin, invite them to protect their health and the health of the people around them by accepting "non-contact mobile payment" at the time of payment in addition to the measures they take within the scope of Covid-19. Chippin is also part of the solution, focusing on maintaining social distance.
In the days of the epidemic, companies can also enable their customers who do not want to come to the store to enjoy a mobile payment alternative with Chippin by calling from their seats. In this way, they provide convenience and hygiene for customers.
In Chippin, where there is no contactless payment limit, it is also possible to make purchases with a high basket average. The consumer transactions in the white goods and furniture sectors through the application increased by 35% in March and April compared to the first two months of the year.
The trust and convenience provided by mobile payments play an important role in this increase. With Chippin, users can rate their shopping experience and share any feedback about companies after payment. In such feedbacks, we observe that they own the mobile payment experience.
We anticipate that this transformation we have observed at Chippin will be permanent and that mobile payment will be increasingly more popular.