Despite economic uncertainty, many industry watchers predict that cross-border eCommerce will continue to grow.
It’s a prediction supported by the idea that, at least in part, this growth will be enabled by payment solutions that reduce the pain points that small online merchants frequently face as they navigate the challenges of dealing in new markets.
Payoneer Senior Vice President of Americas Ya Wen claims that it is already happening. As the COVID limits and worldwide supply chain snags of 2021 and 2022 subside, customers’ present financial concerns force online vendors to not only adapt new techniques, but also locate new competitors.
“Consumers will be worried about their wallets,” Wen said. “They’re on the lookout for discounts and bargains. eCommerce marketplaces will face more competition from brick-and-mortar stores, forcing them to become more low-cost and deal-driven in order to compete.”
Nonetheless, he views online marketplaces as benefactors of these market dynamics, predicting that online merchants would rethink their expansion plans and refocus their resources more toward marketplaces, where it is cheaper and quicker to attract users as well as sell to an existing client base.
All of this enables FinTechs to prosper in 2023, as he expects creative innovation in specific areas to be well-timed for the remaining uncertainty. He says that this will benefit banks, who he claims are being outmaneuvered by FinTechs in areas such as real-time and cross-border payments.
“For many SMBs and eCommerce enterprises, fast and real-time payments would be in great demand,” Wen said. “They want to be paid as fast as possible so that they may invest their liquidity and cash flow to build their internet business.”
