UK businesses are willing to spend a third of their annual budget on purchasing a new payments solution, according to new research from Tug - however, many say they are feeling overwhelmed by the sheer range of payments software available online.
Finding a solution is critical for businesses too, with only 1 in 10 stating that they currently have no issues with their existing payments software, indicating a fairly extensive need for improving the situation in finance departments.
More than half of the UK companies featured in the research were in agreement over the importance of having the right payments solution in place, with an average of £64,000 being allotted to solving the task.
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The research looked at the type of software used by medium to large UK businesses, which revealed that two in five find that their existing payment software is too time-consuming. A further 20% complained of poor customer support from providers. Depressingly, some 17% of decision-makers questioned reported that having the wrong payments solution had resulted in a loss of revenue.
Payments solution
Despite the general willingness to move to a better payments solution and with many companies having sufficient cash in place to fund a transition, the main sticking point appeared to be finding the right software package. Key reasons included difficulty in making the right choice (34%) and the time it takes to find a package (31%).
Additionally, 26% claimed they were flummoxed by the different options available in the accounting and finance software sector. On top of all that, a further 19% of business owners reported they found it difficult to differentiate between the various payment solution brands. Nearly a quarter (24%) said they would most likely rely on recommendations from so-called ‘finfluencers’, or high-profile people in the know about making their choice on software. Over a third (41%) simply resorted to the more obvious route of searching online.
The research findings also underline the need for payment solutions providers to intensify their digital marketing strategy. Without a more efficient plan in place the study suggests that software providers could potentially miss out on over £11m worth of revenue in the next six months alone. Central to this is being easily found in online searches.
“Payment solution providers can play a key role in getting businesses back up and running as we emerge from the pandemic. It’s therefore vital that these solutions can be easily found online and have the strategy in place to capture relevant audiences” says Emily King, Commercial Director at Tug.
“To boost online visibility, payment solution providers must leverage digital marketing tactics, such as search engine optimisation (SEO), to organically increase site traffic quality and quantity, whilst offering a low-cost and sustainable way to fuel top of the funnel awareness and conversions. Also, adopting tools that continuously assess on-site behaviour will allow them to stay ahead of rivals online by generating rapid insight into customer behaviour and patterns.”
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