Fintech in Retail and Consumer Electronics
The fintech industry has bloomed magnificently in our recent past. Fintech’s permeation into different industries and sectors has fueled its engines to run faster and to explore broader horizons. Fintech provides simpler alternatives to traditional processes, like online payments, clearing the way for colossal transformations.
The first fintech-related transactions were initiated by the advent of credit cards, which happened several years ago. Then, the term fintech was nowhere in the picture. Today’s global landscape has fintech’s position painted in bright unmissable colors. With banks, financial institutions, and countless businesses becoming a part of the fintech revolution, there is little doubt that fintech is gradually acquiring more power and control over the global economy.
The two industries other than the financial and banking industries that have had the most impact are retail and consumer electronics.
Fintech in Retail
Fintech’s contributions to the retail sector have been enormous. With fintech entering the picture, the landscape and structuring of the retail industry have changed brilliantly. E-commerce has diversified, enabling more power and control for consumers to decide how and where to spend their money.
Several factors have contributed to the successful convergence of fintech and retail, such as:
- E-commerce
In today’s digital age, numberless e-commerce platforms have created an online marketplace for everything under the sky. From banking to groceries, movies, and even education, the online market has become an unimaginable cloud of possibilities.
The growth of e-commerce has been one of the prime reasons for retail expansion. Companies like Amazon, Shopify, eBay, and the likes, have transformed the shopping habits of people. Fintech has been an integral component in accelerating the pace of retail growth.
- Online Payments
Digital payments have universally simplified our shopping options and activities. E-payments have been the ace in fintech’s game set, enabling it to spread its reach to wider horizons. Small and large businesses and individual merchants have rapidly absorbed digitalization into their systems, propelling fintech’s growth further. Fintech has changed the way people shop by bringing e-wallets, virtual cards, tap-and-go services, QR codes, Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) options, and more.
- Customer Experience
Fintech’s growth owes tremendously to people’s focus on improving customer experience. By engaging in more customer-related activities, and consumer-focused services, fintech has found an invaluable pool of opportunities that have helped it balloon so magnificently.
Regardless of industry, everyone is attempting to solve customer issues like never before, owing to which personalization has emerged as the key deciding factor for improved customer experience. Consumers are now rightfully expecting personalized benefits crafted especially for them. Personalization has sealed the destinies of fintech and retail together by bringing in opportunities for fintech to aid the retail sector’s growth further.
- Cryptocurrency
The newest augmentation in retail has been cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. The crypto market has been flooded with new explorers and miners to invest in this new futuristic currency. The prominence of cryptocurrencies has grown enough to become an additional e-payment option for big purchases. Many businesses are now accepting payments in cryptocurrencies, promoting the ever-growing expanse of fintech.
Fintech in Consumer Electronics
Another sector that has been enormously but positively affected by fintech’s emergence is consumer electronics. The upsurge of fintech can be directly associated with the growth of consumer electronics, the most disruptive technology being smartphones.
Smartphones have caused an upheaval in our daily lives. The global smartphone market has increased by 50% in the last four years. More than 80% of the population owns or uses smartphones in the digital age, increasing the number of users to 6.5 billion. The smartphone market is expected to grow further in the coming years.
Fintech’s association with smartphones is common knowledge. Whether it was the increasing adoption of smartphones globally that led to the upthrust of fintech’s trajectory, or vice-versa, both these industries have benefitted immensely from their counterpart’s growth. Fintech has become a default option for smartphone users now.
With smartphones, digital payments, online banking, remittances, eKYCs, and much more have become possible, resulting in the ballooned demand for fintech services. The e-commerce market has flourished owing to the conjunction of fintech and smartphones. Much of fintech’s disruption has stemmed from the increased adoption of smartphones.
While smartphones have had the most impact on fintech, other electronic devices such as laptops, desktops, smart speakers, and other home utility devices have also gained tremendous ground. The embracement of such digital devices by the masses has ushered in more opportunities for fintech. Purchasing subscriptions and utility items through voice command on smart speakers, conducting international payments, or investments in cryptocurrencies, etc., have become common augmentations, providing better control and more choices for consumers.
The Bottom Line
Fintech has been pivotal in bringing rapid changes in the traditional global systems. Generation Z and the Millenials have contributed immensely to setting the momentum for innovation. E-commerce platforms, online payments, blockchain technologies, etc., are actively being absorbed into the system by these two generations that have had the most interaction with advanced technology. The retail and consumer electronics industries have expanded in diversity and numbers because of their integration with fintech; their interdependency assures us of their bright future.
