No Christmas cheer for cash-only SMEs

45% of UK shoppers walk out of smaller retailers and independent outlets if they can’t pay by card, according to research from Paymentsense. 

A further quarter of the 1,029 people surveyed are also unlikely to return to a store if it didn’t take cards. Shoppers use them 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 £2 billion of consumer spending could be lost by small businesses with no facilities, in the month run up to Christmas. Shoppers in the capital are even less forgiving, with 54% of Londoners surveyed saying they’d walk out of small businesses. Those in Manchester were not far behind (50%). The survey also revealed that Londoners spend £230 a month in independent outlets.

Guy Moreve, Head of Marketing at Paymentsense, comments: “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 or contactless payments, could permanently lose every fourth customer, which would be a particularly difficult blow at this busy time of year.”