For most customers, it’s not just about what you sell but how you do it as well. It matters where you source and test your products and your outlook on the environment and equality. Also crucial for the modern customer are the new payment methods you accept – and at the top of that list will be cryptocurrency.
Cryptocurrency is just another form of payment that can be exchanged online for goods and services. The most common of these and the most likely to be accepted in online commerce for everyday transactions is Bitcoin. There will undoubtedly be an expansion to include others as well, with Ethereum probably the next in line.
Obstacles to mass adoption
The process for your online business to adopt bitcoin, however, will not be a simple one. The adaptations to current payments portals used by online companies are seen as the biggest obstacle, but that may not be the case. The biggest obstacle to your customers using cryptocurrencies to pay for your products and services might not be your ability to accept them but the customer’s willingness to use them.
Central to this is a view that most people who do not have a direct interest in Cryptocurrencies don’t really understand them or, at best, think they are something to invest in – not spend. The current perception, bolstered by daily reports of the rising price of this or that coin, is that Bitcoin grows daily in a cryptocurrency bank like BlockFi, rather than something you might use to pay for a new phone charging cable from Amazon.
eCommerce adoption
It might be considered an inaccurate analogy, but for some, the current situation might bring to mind the way PayPal was viewed 20 years ago by users on eBay (then the biggest eCommerce platform). At that point, many transactions involved posting a check or even cash through the post. PayPal was something most users did not understand or were highly suspicious of (most likely because they didn’t understand it).
However, within a couple of years, the vast majority of transactions in the platform took place using PayPal, and sellers who didn’t embrace it were seen as the exceptions and often not trusted as a result.
The effect on your business from accepting Cryptocurrencies
Of course, there are pronounced differences, but a similar effect could easily occur when cryptocurrencies begin to be used for everyday purchases. Once a mental shift occurs and it becomes closer to the norm, the impact on your business will be gradual but significant.
More significant, however, will be the effect on the businesses that do not adapt to this change. The outcome could perhaps be aligned with that of the companies that, in recent years, have not offered customers the ability to buy their online as well as in-store or fast food establishments that have not added a delivery option to their menus.
Final thoughts
While initially, payment for one of your goods or services using a cryptocurrency will be considered a novelty, it could quickly become the norm. It could be better to adapt now and be ready for mass adoption rather than play catch-up later on.
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