One thing we have been saying time and again is that we will see a lot of trends emerging while the COVID-19 crisis is going on and also when the crisis ends once and for all and we hope that happens soon as well. These trends include an increase in flash sales, more flexible free shipping policies, and more aggressive online marketing. As far as those trends are concerned, we are reportedly going to see the emergence of online grocery shopping apart from the e-commerce shopping that we already do. On the other hand, a new trend is also emerging that could be telling in the way we do things on a daily basis.
Because a new report has come out in the industry which reveals that contactless payments are up by 40% after the virus outbreak. The main reason in this jump is because people fear that they could get the virus from cash or credit cards which is a valid fear as well. Due to that reason, people want to pay from their digital wallets such as PayPal or other accounts. This is safer for them because they know their phone is not touched by anyone else and they don’t have to touch cash or cards or accept change.
We are currently talking about Mastercard which runs both credit/debit card facility as well as contactless payments. Mastercard CEO Ajay Banga said the trend was being driven by consumers “looking for a quick way to get in and out of stores without exchanging cash, touching terminals, or anything else.”
He added that “We are seeing an increase in the use of contactless transactions, and we think this trend will continue after the pandemic,” WHO says that they have not said anything about use or non-use of cash during this virus outbreak but it is common sense to not use cash since it changes hands and there is a possibility it could have the virus which cannot be seen by anyone.
