QSR Media Conference 2014: How payment innovation can help your business and delight your customers
"Merchants need to ultimately change with its consumers to succeed," said Jonathan Kelly, Head of Retail Services of PayPal Australia.
"Retailers with mobile options are now changing the way how things are purchased, merchants are changing how they interact with consumers." He emphasized the importance of being in tune with what consumers want and their purchasing habits, to be able to offer a better experience.
Successful brands who have disrupted the retail space by evolving with their consumers include Uber and Airbnb, he pointed out. "This is because their delightful user experience gained mass consumer adoption. The consumer wanted it, [they offered it] and it succeeded."
In this session, it was revealed that Australia is the second highest adopter of smartphones. Individuals are connected and engaged in a ways that was not possible a decade ago. 1 in 3 transactions now are done by mobile, Kelly shared, and smartphone usage will continue to rise.
Adding, in just 7 short years, PayPal users in Australia has grown to 5.5 milion.
However, he noted that although mobile is the anchor, "it's not the only platform we should be thinking about. In the end of the day, new technologies are coming and consumers will be adapting this and this will change [purchasing behavior again]. "Those who adapt have more edge than retailers who do not."
