Payment trends update: why payments personalization matters

The 2025 Global Digital Shopping Index (GDSI) reveals that consumers expect seamless, personalized, and unified shopping experiences across mobile, online, and in-store channels. To meet this expectation, merchants need to think beyond omnichannel commerce and develop a unified commerce strategy that embeds key digital features, such as preferred payment methods and rewards.

Preferred payment methods and rewards are the top features that help turn would-be buyers into paying customers, at 75.9% and 65.7%, respectively.² These findings highlight that modern shoppers are turning to digital features that help them pay quickly and reward them for their business with customer loyalty programs, an area merchants would be remiss not to capitalize on.

Forrester's analysis of younger U.K. consumers' payment and shopping behaviors reveals that this cohort trusts a more varied set of companies to provide digital payment services and are comfortable using emerging technologies like voice assistants and online chat. Regardless of age, however, the report indicates that consumers want better, more streamlined experiences overall. A better digital experience means capturing more revenue, so simplifying the payment experience is a must with shoppers of all generations.

Recent reports from EMarketer³ and IDC⁴ predict that GenAI will help take personalized shopping experiences to the next level.

EMarketer discusses leveraging GenAI to curate the buying journey by personalizing elements such as offers and payment product recommendations to help buyers make purchasing decisions.

Looking further ahead, both EMarketer and IDC anticipate that GenAI will be used to power personalized shopping assistants. These assistants—also known as AI agents or superagents—will run independently on smartphones to programmatically shop for goods and services. The agents will learn what users want by monitoring their behavior and conversing with them.

"Superagents will be ever present, intuitive, and able to research, recommend, and purchase anything—saving consumers and brands money, time, and aggravation," predicts the IDC report. It describes these agents as "another form of commerce" and expects that, by 2027, consumers will spend $100B via them.

There are already plenty of technologies available to help merchants create the fast, personalized, and digital experiences that can help convert browsers into buyers, simplifying the process for both merchants and shoppers alike.

Storing credentials is the most common way customers complete transactions, according to the Global Digital Shopping Index,² with 54% of respondents having done so for their latest purchase. Speed, convenience, and trust are key reasons shoppers store payment information with merchants. So, it's critical for merchants to choose a reliable credential management system for storing and tokenizing credentials to gain consumers’ trust and, ultimately, their dollar.

Although three-quarters of merchants surveyed for the Global Digital Shopping Index think the unified experience will be crucial for shopper satisfaction this year, most don't feel ready to deliver, primarily owing to challenges related to their payments systems. Forrester¹ advises merchants to choose payment processors that are strategic rather than tactical and to lean on them to spur innovation.

We can offer you and your technology partners access to a wealth of expertise and solutions to help you personalize the payment experience today, like:

• Token Management Service helps you create new payment experiences and increase authorizations while protecting sensitive customer payment data
• Click to Pay offers online checkout that's as convenient as in-store tap to pay
• Credentials management can help reduce checkout friction and can help boost approval rates
   

It's clear that personalizing payment and shopping experiences with the digital features that customers want can help you drive more checkouts.

We'd love to discuss how personalization can support your payments goals. Reach out and discover how Visa Acceptance Solutions and our uniquely open payments platform can help you build the future of payments.

And keep an eye out for our next update for more news and commentary.