Tug, a leading digital performance marketing agency, today announced new research which reveals UK businesses are prepared to spend a third (35%) of their annual budget on a payments solution in 2021, but are unsure or confused by the different options available online.

The new research – commissioned by Tug and carried out by Censuswide – surveyed decision-makers across medium-large UK businesses to reveal their current usage of payments solutions, as well as considerations for future purchase, and the challenges they face in choosing the best solution. The findings highlight an urgent need for payment solution providers to boost online visibility and drive brand awareness by evaluating their digital marketing strategies. 

While over half (53%) of UK businesses surveyed believe the right payments solution is critical to the success of their business – allocating an average of £64,000 to this per annum – just over 1 in 10 (12%) have no issues with their current solution. In fact, almost two in five (39%) said their current solution is too time-consuming, and a further 20% face poor customer support from their current provider. Worryingly, 17% of companies also confirmed their current payments solution has caused issues with loss of revenue. 

As such, over half (54%) of UK businesses surveyed plan to change their payments solution within the next six months. However, 1 in 10 decision-makers do not feel confident in identifying the right payments solution for their company* – citing difficulty in identifying the best solution (34%), and the time taken to do so (31%), as the biggest barriers to finding the best solution. Moreover, 26% are confused by the different options available to them, and a further 19% confirmed they struggle to differentiate between different payment solution brands.

When looking for a new payments solution for their business, almost a quarter (24%) of decision-makers rely on recommendations from “finfluencers” for information and more than a third (41%) cited general online search as a preferred browsing method. This means payment solution providers could potentially miss out on over £11m worth of revenue in the next six months if they are difficult to find online**.

“Payment solution providers can play a key role in getting businesses back up and running as we emerge from the pandemic. It’s therefore vital that these solutions can be easily found online and have the strategy in place to capture relevant audiences” says Emily King, Commercial Director at Tug. “To boost online visibility, payment solution providers must leverage digital marketing tactics, such as search engine optimisation (SEO), to organically increase site traffic quality and quantity, whilst offering a low-cost and sustainable way to fuel top of the funnel awareness and conversions. Also, adopting tools that continuously assess on-site behaviour will allow them to stay ahead of rivals online by generating rapid insight into customer behaviour and patterns.”