Every business desires to reach as many shoppers as possible. But again, this can be challenging, given the rising customer acquisition costs. According to BusinessDasher, attracting new customers can cost five to 25 times more than retaining returning customers. To get ahead of such expenses, businesses must be innovative and strategic. Remember, modern shoppers have become super discerning and only want to transact with brands that cater to their shifting preferences.
Interestingly, crypto technology, which was once highly criticized, now offers features that can help businesses distinguish themselves from the crowd. Despite the fact that crypto prices are always fluctuating, these tokens have made it possible to cater to the growing need for safer and quicker interactions. Looking at the global crypto payment apps market, you may be surprised to learn that its worth is already in billions of dollars.
Global Market Insights Inc recently valued it at $1.2 billion, expecting it to hit $4.4 billion by 2032. Clearly, crypto’s impact on the business sector is no longer an unrealistic dream. Agreeing with this, Yi He, Co-founder of Binance, says, “Crypto isn’t just the future of finance – it’s already reshaping the system, one day at a time.”
Building trust through transparency and improved security
At a time when cyberattacks are becoming the norm, you want to ensure customers can easily trust your brand. No one would be okay transacting in an environment that could easily expose their data. And mark you: Cybercriminals are always evolving and using more advanced approaches to compromise customer data. Others even use tech innovations like artificial intelligence to improve their strategies.
SoSafe conducted a study and found that almost nine in ten (87%) of global businesses reported encountering an AI-related attack in just twelve months. Unfortunately, while 91% of security experts expect these attacks to increase significantly within the next three years, only 26% are highly confident in their ability to combat them. At the same time, customers are becoming increasingly security-conscious. If you don’t implement tight security measures, you may end up losing many of them, which could ultimately result in business failure.
Thanks to crypto’s infrastructure, businesses can now cater to security-conscious shoppers. Through decentralization, digital currencies distribute data across multiple centres, eliminating the possibility of single-point failure. These tokens are also immutable to prevent data manipulation or alteration upon validation.
Blockchain, upon which digital currencies are built, can also help combat the growing challenge of AI-based attacks such as deepfakes. It does this by establishing a clear chain of custody from the point of capture. Since each piece of media is stored with a unique digital fingerprint, any alterations can be easily detected as the hash of the tampered media will not match the original. Such measures improve customer confidence and can be great tools for encouraging exploration.
Reducing costs and increasing efficiency
It shouldn’t be surprising that Binance recently reported a 9.26% increase in DeFi Total Value Locked (TVL) alone. Stablecoin activities have also surged, resulting in a 6.49% growth of their market. This is partly because customers want instant and cheaper transaction processes. In traditional payment options, users may sometimes have to wait even five days to receive their funds.
And this is without mentioning the associated hefty transaction costs. International remittances, for instance, cost about 6.49% of every transaction made. Multiply this by, say, $5,000, and you have a figure for which you are not always willing to pay the ‘intermediary.’ However, with crypto, you won’t need to spend all that because there are no intermediaries involved. When it comes to transaction speed, about 70% of customers expect payments to be processed in no more than two seconds. Delaying them could have devastating effects, like reducing conversions by up to 20%.
On the flip side, integrating instant payments increases the likelihood of appealing to 78% of shoppers, who, according to PYMNTS.com, consider such payments essential to their experience. Since crypto transactions settle fast, catering to these preferences has become possible. Some robust tokens like Solana allow shoppers even to receive funds within as little as 0.4 seconds. And when things are at their peak, you won’t need to worry about payment lags because Solana can process up to 65,000 transactions per second.
Tapping into a global market without friction
Cross-border restrictions present major challenges for businesses seeking global audiences. Take currency conversions, for instance. Customers having to compute exchange rates on their own can be frustrating and even cause some to turn to competitors. According to Contentserv, about 25% may abandon shopping carts if prices are displayed in foreign currencies, just because they don’t want to burden themselves with calculations.
This means that if you are to retain such customers, you must be able to display the right currencies. You may also want to localize these payment methods to appeal to local preferences. And this is where digital currencies come into play. By design, they are generally borderless. So, a small business in New York can instantly receive payments from a customer in Argentina or any other place without worrying about inflated conversion fees.
And even when targeting financially excluded communities, this global accessibility can be a game-changer. All a customer needs is good internet connectivity and a crypto wallet, and they are ready to shop. And they also won’t need to provide a lot of personal information, which comes in handy in reducing the risk of cyberattacks. Allowing such possibilities gives an impression that you care about everyone, a characteristic that could help distinguish your brand in this age, where inclusivity conversations have become a thing.
Attracting the next generation of customers
According to approximations, the number of cryptocurrency owners has already hit one billion. Of this population, Gen Z and millennials are the most consumers. Data from CoinLaw notes that Gen Z accounts for 28%, while millennials account for about 40%. That’s nearly half of an entire generation leaning into digital assets! And, of course, they might also want to use the assets for payment.
Such customers value innovation and forward-thinking brands. To them, businesses exploring crypto-based technologies show that they aren’t stuck in the past. By adapting to the future, these organizations further highlight their undying commitment to providing excellent shopping experiences. Think of it as a business in the 2010s resisting the integration of responsive websites. A decade later, this company could be out of business because responsive designs have become the norm.
Given that crypto could be the next wave of digital evolution, embracing it could position your brand where tech-savvy customers already are. Digital currencies also help cater to contemporary preferences like the growing need for instant and secure payments. Considering these benefits, more businesses could welcome the technology in a bid to improve their competitiveness.