In the transition to Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO), social distancing will be the main focus and one trend that’s on the up-and-coming is contactless payment in the retail industry.
The adoption rate for e-wallets skyrocketed during the COVID-19 outbreak and they have been one of the main choices for consumers when it comes to making contactless payments. But in this new normal, the situation is different for retailers. With the rising options for contactless payments, they must learn and adapt to different ways of receiving payments.
For the front end of the business, the cashier is required to know how to accept the different types of payment, and the back-end employees might have to struggle with reconciling the payments from various channels at the end of the day.
Clearly, there needs to be a better way for retailers to simplify their payment and collection process.
And there’s a major retailer that has recently made changes to their operations as they adopt the contactless payment trend. Sports Direct is UK’s largest sporting goods retailer and they have over 30 retail stores in Malaysia alone, offering more than 70 brands in their stores.
With its key priority to elevate customer experience throughout their shopping journey, Sports Direct now uses HSBC Omni Channel, a one-stop platform with a single interface for multiple payment types and easy reconciliation. With this addition, Sports Direct can provide a better retail experience for its customers and streamline their collection process.
The solution that HSBC offers to Sports Direct is a comprehensive one, which enables our business to adopt a single point of interface for payment acceptance covering both traditional and digital payments (cards, e-wallets) through a single platform, reducing the number of touchpoints in this ecosystem.
Paul Gibbons, Managing Director of Sports Direct MST Sdn Bhd
The Benefits Of HSBC Omni Channel For Sports Direct
1) A Single Terminal For All Payments
A cluttered counter-top is a common sight for businesses that accept multiple payment types. They have multiple payment terminals and multiple QR code stands on the register.
By utilising HSBC Omni Channel, payments via e-wallets such as Touch ‘n Go, Boost, Grab and conventional payments such as debit and credit cards can be accepted via a single smart terminal.
This not only simplifies the payment process for Sports Direct’s customers, but it also reduces the complexity for the cashier in handling various payment terminals.
At the same time, HSBC Omni Channel is fully integrated into Sports Direct’s Point-of-Sale (POS) system. That helps to reduce the need in training employees to handle different payment methods and minimises the chance of potentially keying in wrong amounts or other human errors.
2) Never Lose Track Of Payments
With the multiple types of payment channels, retailers often face difficulties in reconciling their reports.
By using HSBC Omni Channel, Sports Direct receives a daily report that captures transactions from all of their payment channels. This simplifies the reconciliation process for Sports Direct, and it helps them to keep track of all payments made in their stores.
It doesn’t just stop there! Sports Direct also receive payments made by their customers from all payment channels within the very next business day. This certainly helps Sports Direct to manage their cash flow better.
3) Keeping Up With Countless E-Wallets
With over 45 approved e-wallet providers in Malaysia, it will take a considerable amount of time and resources for Sports Direct to evaluate and implement each e-wallet into their business.
Imagine going through the hassle of negotiating and technical enablement with an e-wallet provider, let alone 45 of them.
By consolidating and enabling all major e-wallet providers onto their platform, HSBC Omni Channel was able to simplify the e-wallet implementation process for Sports Direct.
As a market leader in digital banking, we are committed to innovate and always prioritise end-user experience when it comes to designing solutions for them. Omni Channel is one of HSBC’s many new digital innovations to have been launched for our Malaysian customers this year.
– Shayan Hazir, Country Head of Global Liquidity and Cash Management, HSBC Malaysia.
With this solution, Sports Direct was not only able to adopt the contactless payment trend easily, but also to deliver an unrivalled customer experience.
- For more info on HSBC Omni Channel, click here.
Image Credit: HSBC
