Almost half of shoppers will leave if card payment is not possible.
Nearly half (45%) of UK shoppers walk out of smaller retailers and independent outlets if they can’t pay by card, according to new research* from card machine provider Paymentsense.
A further quarter (25%) are also unlikely to return to a store if it didn’t take cards on a former visit.
The study of over 1,000 consumers revealed that, shoppers use their cards to spend just under £135 a month, on average, in smaller retailers, independent restaurants and cafes. With 80% of those surveyed owning a contactless card, a total of over £2bn** of consumer spending could be lost by small businesses which can’t take cards, in the month run up to Christmas.
Shoppers in the capital are even less forgiving, with over half (54%) of Londoners surveyed saying they’d walk out of small businesses offering no card payment option. Those in Manchester were not far behind with a walkout rate of 50%. The survey also revealed that Londoners spend £230 a month in independent outlets, making their high walkout rate even more costly to local retailers.
Guy Moreve, head of marketing at Paymentsense commented: “Contactless card payment is fast becoming the norm, with our research showing that most consumers now use credit and debit cards. Shoppers now expect to use them almost everywhere – both in a traditional or contactless manner.
“As well as the significant revenue loss, our study suggests that smaller retailers and cafes who don’t yet take card payments, could permanently lose every fourth customer, which would be a particularly difficult blow at this busy time of year,” he added.
Highest city average SME card spend, per month
| London | £229.74 |
| Oxford | £173.33 |
| Leeds | £158.44 |
| Nottingham | £151.85 |
| Manchester | £136.19 |
Lowest city average SME card spend, per month
| Belfast | £59.09 |
| Sheffield | £65.53 |
| Cardiff | £65.93 |
| Aberdeen | £70.59 |
| Glasgow | £70.93 |
* Commissioned research took place from October 4-5, 2017 amongst a nationally representative sample of
1,029 people.
** 41.4m working age adults in UK according to ONS statistics x.8 (contactless card ownership) x .45
(walkout rate) x 135 spend = 2.0bn.
About Paymentsense
Paymentsense is Europe’s leading small business card machine provider enabling over 70,000 SMEs to process over £6 billion worth of card payments per year. From card machines to semi-integrated solutions and payment gateways, Paymentsense supplies small businesses with card processing solutions that allow them to take payments in store, online, over the phone and on the move.