Payment Options The Future of Payments

WITH CONVENIENT PAYMENT OPTIONS PROLIFERATING, WHICH SYSTEMS SHOULD GROCERS ADOPT?

By Emily Crowe

.S. consumers have more options than ever when it comes to buying groceries. They can choose how and when they make their purchases by shopping in a physical store or online, and they’re also being given the freedom to pay for their groceries in myriad ways.

Not only are consumers wading into these new options, but many have come to expect them as they seek out seamless shopping experiences. A flash of an Apple Watch or a QR code scanned on a smartphone is now accepted as payment at food retail establishments throughout the country, but are all consumers sold on these newfangled options?

Key Takeaways

While it’s imperative to offer standard means of payment at the register, alternative options are gaining in popularity.

Contactless payments have become an increasingly important checkout feature for many grocery shoppers, as has online acceptance of EBT SNAP payments.

New payment options will only continue to proliferate and shoppers will remain loyal to those grocers that offer convenience, speed and a positive experience.

According to a recent study from Boston-based PYMNTS.com, more grocery shoppers prefer to pay with debit, at 42.3%, while 31.9% choose to pay with a credit card. Cash or check is the preferred payment method for 13.4% of shoppers, while 6.1% choose to use a digital wallet.

Although debit still reigns supreme, PYMNTS.com also found that groceries account for 62% of all purchases made using a digital wallet, and 4% of all in-store checkouts made by members of Gen Z are done so using a digital wallet. While it’s clearly important to offer standard means of payment at the register, alternative options are becoming ripe for the picking.

Payment Options Run the Gamut

Perhaps pushed forward by a pandemic-era desire to keep germs at bay, contactless payments have become an increasingly important checkout feature for many grocery shoppers. Today, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay and others are accepted at hundreds of grocery banners, and technology companies and grocers themselves are also creating new solutions.

In 2019, The Kroger Co., based in Cincinnati, rolled out its Kro - ger Pay option, which allows customers to link a card to the Kroger app and use their coupons, loyalty card and payment all in one scan. Bentonville, Ark.-based Walmart offers a similar payment option, as well as a mobile scan-and-go service that lets shoppers scan items as they shop and than pay at a self-checkout ki-