Blackhawk Network: 2021 Was the Year of the Consumer

Consumers drove the seismic shift in payments technology in 2021, says Talbott Roche, president and CEO of Blackhawk Network. Now, the ball is in retailers’ court. To run with it, they need to move beyond just accepting digital wallets and contactless payments — and start using them to create a truly omnichannel experience. Read her thoughts in the PYMNTS eBook, “In a Word: 50 Thought Leaders Sum Up 2021.”

If there was one “star of the show” in the payments transformations of 2021, it was the consumer. In a single year, consumers have learned to leverage physical and digital channels to their best outcomes. This requires payment providers to not just offer digital solutions, but also to optimize them to better meet the consumer’s needs — and to that point, merchants and brands are taking digital solutions to the next level with more consumer-centric features. 

In the last year, amid retail changing virtually instantly — and the value and necessity becoming more obvious — there came a surge in omnichannel experiences, digital wallet adoption, contactless payments and mobile apps.

Here are a few of my key learnings from the year:

1. Enabling consumer privacy and data controls. A major part of payment growth comes down to gaining the trust of consumers. Building and optimizing payment offerings that deliver a customized experience for opt-ins, opt-outs and data sharing was a major achievement in growing consumer trust and confidence.

2. Enabling personalization and contextual commerce. Consumers became further in control of their shopping and payments experience with the growth of contextual commerce, where digital payment and loyalty tools have begun to offer more timely, relevant and personalized interactions with brands in a variety of situations and locations.

We’re all becoming more accustomed to unified commerce — the ability to pay however we want, wherever we want. We know shoppers value a simple checkout process, but now it also needs to fit their preferences and follow them throughout their different needs and demands — yet another example of how payments is squarely at the crux of the customer experience.

3. Empowering local merchants. Local merchants and SMBs have now had the opportunity to join the digital payments experience more seamlessly. We saw efforts across the industry to offer better support and inclusion for these businesses. Creating new ways for them to engage with customers will be a much-needed focus area for our industry moving forward.

4. Tapping AI and machine learning. The growth of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning into mainstream consumer mindsets and transactions was a gamechanger. These new tools have become critical to power risk solutions that allow transactions at speeds and volumes never before seen.

5. Digital in physical environments. The strong adoption of digital and mobile payments experiences may be the single biggest long-term impact over the past year — delivering on the promise of multifaceted experiences that combine speed and personalization with the convenience of in-store experiences and the streamlined purchase process that consumers have come to rely on.

As I reflect on 2021 and look ahead to 2022, we are moving from accelerated digital adoption toward a period of transformation, adapting and growing digital transactions to better meet the needs of consumers. The opportunity for businesses to grab a share of consumer wallets is wide open, and driving stronger loyalty through better payment ecosystems is a critical phase of that growth.