Consumerism is an ever-evolving creature, and since online shopping has become an increasing part of our daily lives, it has also changed the way we buy goods. As a result, most high street shopping is on a steady decline month over month, eve though not all of that is attributed to online shopping. The time has come to offer more convenient payment methods to customers, of which Bitcoin could easily become of the frontrunners.
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Online Shopping Vs. Traditional High Street Shopping
Whenever the time of year comes around to out for shopping, the average customer will prefer convenience to anything else, even if that includes paying a small premium price for goods. High street shopping, which can take anywhere from 30 minutes up to an entire day, is becoming less and less attractive month after month.
At first, it was assumed that shopping malls were to blame for driving foot traffic away from the city centers. However, it turns out that, next to high streets, shopping malls are also attracting far less foot traffic in recent months. All of this depends entirely on the consumer’s view on shopping, and a lot of that focus goes to online shopping opportunities.
British Retail Consortium’s Director General Helen Dickinson stated:
“This is a clear demonstration that the re-invention of the high street is far from complete. The process of creating multi-use destinations in the heart of our towns and cities needs to continue in earnest if people are going to be drawn back to the high street. This has happened in some areas, but the energy and effort behind sharing best practice needs to be redoubled.”
But there is another possible culprit in this story. Urban destinations are becoming less popular to shop for the average consumer, whereas there is an increase in popularity for out-of-town locations. Granted, a portion of those locations offer online shopping and in-store pick up services, with free and ample parking spaces to boot.
Alternative Payment Methods To Increase High Street Sales?
One way to bring more foot traffic to high street locations lies within the addition of alternate payment methods. Mobile payments are on the rise all across the globe, yet very few shops are equipped with tools to process mobile payments at this time. And in the case of some mobile payment forms, such as Bitcoin, there is no additional infrastructure required.
When it comes to adopting new technologies, not all merchants and retailers are forward thinkers. Having a cautious approach to new payment technologies is not a bad trait at all, but when foot traffic keeps declining, some will have to take the risk sooner or later. And with Bitcoin payments, there is no risk involved, and no additional costs. In fact, they will save on transaction costs.
What is your preferred way of shopping, and which payment methods do you use most? Let us know in the comments below!
Source: Telegraph UK
Images courtesy of Shutterstock
