Visa Study Shows Significant Shift to Digital Commerce Amid COVID-19

Visa Study Shows Significant Shift to Digital Commerce Amid COVID-19

Visa published its global Back to Business study assessing the shift to digital commerce in response to the pandemic, driven largely by changing consumer expectations for a safe and contactless payment method. As small and micro businesses (SMBs) continue to endure the financial impact of COVID-19, rethinking the checkout or point-of-sale (POS) experience is essential for survival.

Consumers Now Expect Digital-First Commerce

According to the study, 9 out of 10 consumers in the UAE (90%) have changed how they pay for purchases due to COVID-19, including shopping online when possible (59%) and using contactless payments (52%).

Contactless payments have become a driving differentiator. Nearly all (90%, compared to 63% globally) UAE consumers said they would switch to buying from a store that installed contactless payment systems. In fact, almost three in four (72%,