Over 75 Percent US Retailers Wish to Enable Crypto Payments by 2022 Citing Consumer Interest: Delloite

Retail merchants in the US are looking to expand their payment acceptance options to now include cryptocurrencies as well. In a latest report, Deloitte said over 75 percent retailers in the US are interested in adopting stablecoins as legit payment alternatives to dollar and cards. Stablecoins are those cryptocurrencies that are pegged against a fiat currency, in US' case, the dollar. Due to the underlying reserve asset, market fluctuations may impact the stablecoins a bit lesser than the other altcoins.

The survey polled 2,000 senior members of retail organisations between December 3 and December 16 last year, but the results have been published now in Deloitte's report titled ‘Merchants Getting Ready For Crypto'.

The interest of consumers in the crypto sector has been cited as a main reason why retail merchants in the US are looking to add the option of crypto payments.

“More than 85 percent of the organisations are giving high or very high priority to enabling cryptocurrency payments, while roughly 83 percent are doing the same for stablecoins. As such, and likely driven by larger retail adoption/availability of cryptocurrencies, it seems as though these assets have a role as the primary starting point for adoption,” the report noted.

Big merchants in the US, minting revenues of around $500 million (roughly Rs. 3,887 crore), have already begun creating an infrastructure to support crypto payments.

Investments ranging from $10 million (roughly Rs. 77 lakh) to $100 million (roughly Rs. 777 crore) are being made by different levels of retailers in order to establish a crypto-friendly ecosystem.

Out of the surveyed American retail entities, nearly half predict that crypto adoption could make shopping experience for their customers more efficient.

Around 40 percent retailers are looking to give their businesses a ‘cutting edge' element by introducing crypto payments.

“Merchants are eager to adopt digital currency payments for a variety of reasons. They see that the market is rapidly changing and want to support customer preferences. They expect to derive value from their digital currency adoption in three distinct ways: improved customer experience (48 percent of respondents), increased customer base (46 percent), and brand is perceived as cutting edge (40 percent),” the report added.

In recent times, several big brands based in the US have already began experimenting with crypto payments.

Earlier in May, AMC Theatres testified to have witnessed popularity of cryptocurrencies as a payment alternative on its platform. Crypto transactions made for 35 percent of the total online payments for the biggest movie hall chain in the US that had started accepting crypto payments last year.

Several restaurants like Chipotle Mexican Grill and Crypto Street Restaurant.

Luxury brands such as Swiss watch-maker Tag Heuer, Italian apparel label Gucci and French luxury label Balenciaga have opened crypto payments in the US.

Payment service providers like PayPal, in the US, are also integrating crypto services to their working models, in order to cater to different kinds of customers.