5 questions QSRs should be asking their payment provider

As the pandemic accelerated the QSR industry’s pivot to digital, brands’ ability to offer a seamless customer experience across online and offline touchpoints has proven to be a critical success factor.

Hygiene-conscious and time-poor customers increasingly value quick and easy checkout experiences online, in-store, or in-app, highlighting the need for QSRs to double down on a payments platform that enhances customer experience across all channels through convenience, ease of use, and security.

In such a fast-paced industry, choosing the right payment partner could spell the difference between success and failure. But how do QSRs separate the wheat from the chaff? What criteria should QSRs use to evaluate payment providers? 

To help QSR brands make this tough decision, we spoke with Ben Zyl, Senior Vice President of Sales at Adyen, who reveals a powerful list of questions QSRs should be asking their payments partner: 

Question #1: What payment channels do you support? 

The way customers interact with QSRs has changed dramatically over the years, but more so during the pandemic. What was once an industry focused on just in-store experiences is now all about improving digital experiences too as customers expect consistency across all touchpoints including mobile apps and in-store kiosks. 

Confusion may arise if some payment methods are available online but not in-store and vice versa. Therefore, the payment provider must be able to support all the channels available to the customers – payment terminals in-store, web platforms, or proprietary apps. This ensures a seamless and consistent checkout experience for the customers regardless of which channel they are using.

This was one of the key requirements for both Hungry Jack’s and Nando’s (both of whom Adyen works closely with): a modern, world-class engine that would help them access customer insights across all channels.  

Question #2: What payment methods do you support?

With an array of new payment methods that have emerged in recent years, having only one standard payment method is just not going to cut it. 

Nearly 2 in 5 customers want to have a range of payment options available to them¹, so brands would do well to offer both new (Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal, etc) and traditional (credit/debit cards) payment methods.

For example, Adyen partnered with Australia’s leading healthy burger chain Grill’d for their delivery app rollout in 2020. We included five new payment methods in that rollout (Apple Pay, Google Pay, Amex, Zip and Alipay), and we saw a great uptake for them. There was also a lot of positive feedback from both the customers and the Grill’d team.

It is therefore vital for QSRs to select a partner that can support several payment methods so customers can take control of their payment experience. At the end of the day, it’s not only about offering a payment method that the customer prefers but also making sure these methods are simple to use and secure.

Question #3: How easy is it to board and manage franchisees?

For multi-site restaurants, engaging a payment provider takes more than just shaking hands and signing a contract. Most of the heavy lifting comes at the execution phase and boarding franchisees.

Some key questions QSRs must ask are: Does the payment service provider have a digital way to board and verify the franchisee? How do franchisees manage themselves within the account? For instance, how do they order new terminals? Do they log in to a portal and order from there? Or do they need to go the old-fashioned way and call someone, wait for a technician to arrive, and install the terminals?

QSR brands need a payment provider that offers a portal which allows the franchisee to see money coming in and out and also gives basic insights on transactions so they can manage the payment side themselves. This saves franchisors from having to provide all the services to franchisees, thereby empowering them to manage scale more efficiently.

Question #4: Do you support merchant choice routing?

Data from the Reserve Bank of Australia reveal that in 2019, credit and debit card payments accounted for 63% of all consumer payments. This shift was underpinned by the adoption of contactless technologies, with 83% of point-of-sale card transactions being initiated by tapping a card or mobile device².

In Australia, there are three main card networks: eftpos, Mastercard or Visa. From the customer’s perspective, it may not make much difference as funds could be drawn from the same account. However, for the merchants, there are different costs associated with taking payments from any one of these networks. Having a payment partner that gives the merchant the ability to choose which card network they’d like to use is powerful. 

Because merchant choice routing isn’t just about cost, but about giving brands more control over how they run the business. Being able to support that means brands are able to choose the best payment solution for their business and optimise payment performance (increase authorisation rates, improve speed of transactions, etc.).

Question #5: What’s your view on the future of payments within the QSR sector?

Finally, brands should partner with a payment provider that is aligned with their brand values and has a clear roadmap into the future of payments within the QSR industry.

In order to future-proof the business, QSRs must ask themselves (and their potential payment providers): Do we take a global perspective when it comes to payments? How do we see customer experiences being enhanced through payments? What can we learn from other industries?

We, at Adyen, see that the future of payments will be all about amalgamation and blurring of payment channels. It will revolve around being able to provide customers with a consistent experience throughout all payment channels and giving them choices on how to pay.

Traditional payment terminals and other in-store payment methods have changed, and will continue to change moving forward. Even the way we order food has evolved dramatically over the years. For instance, delivery services weren’t around 4 years ago but now they make up 30% of QSRs’ business. Hence, we urge brands to really think about how their payment service provider will support such changes in the future. We want to be able to support what the customers are driving and asking for in terms of their payment experience.

Adyen as a payment partner

There is an adage that goes, “There's no harm in hoping for the best as long as you're prepared for the worst.” This couldn’t be any more true now during a global pandemic, where we’ve seen brands with stable digital channels and a good payments platform remain widely successful despite market uncertainties.

Zyl notes that as a leading payments company, Adyen empowers QSRs to better serve the customer through payment technologies. Adyen provides unified commerce which not only gives customers a seamless and consistent experience across all touchpoints, but also gives valuable insights to the QSR: which channels are the customers shopping from, which methods are they using, and how can they service that customer better? Adyen provides insightful and actionable answers to these crucial questions.

“Brands may not want to use all the functionality or insights they have today, but it’s important to kickstart that journey. We’ve got a long way to go but the QSRs who are actually thinking about this – even the small brands looking to scale – have to have a partner in payments that will guide and consult with them on how to improve customer experience through payments,” concludes Zyl.

Contact the Adyen team to learn more about the payment strategies you can implement for your business.

About the contributor

Ben Zyl
Senior Vice President of Sales
Adyen

Ben is SVP of Sales for Adyen, Australia and New Zealand. He works closely with retailers, QSRs and F&B brands, helping them deliver the best payment experiences to shoppers. Ben’s over 13 years of experience in online media, telecommunications, and payments, spans a variety of operational, product, and sales roles. With a passion for technology, and understanding of the ever-changing business landscape, Ben applies his knowledge to help brands evolve to meet and exceed the expectations of today’s shoppers. 

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¹ https://www.adyen.com/landing/online/au/agility-report-2020-au

² https://www.rba.gov.au/publications/bulletin/2020/mar/consumer-payment-behaviour-in-australia.html