Nearly 75% of U.S. retailers want to embrace crypto

The accounting firm Deloitte conducted a study on crypto payments in American retail.

The accounting firm Deloitte conducted a study on crypto payments in American retail. Here's a summary of the findings.

Paying for weekly groceries with crypto may still sound odd to the average grocery shopper. But Deloitte's study shows just how strong interest is in alternative payment options.

"It's a signal to retailers that those who don't meet customer demand risk falling behind and losing profits," says author Claudina Castro Tanco.

About two-thirds of consumers said they were very interested in paying with cryptocurrencies, according to retailers. Only 2 percent of customers would show little to no enthusiasm for crypto payments.

Crypto Payments: motivations, plans and challenges

Not only would customer demand for alternative payment options spark merchant interest, but the technology itself also offers value. In particular, immediate access to funds plays a key role according to the survey. Additionally, 39 percent of them are convinced by the technology around blockchain and revenue management.

Initially, retailers were eager to enable payments with digital currencies as a marketing tactic, but this has clearly changed: "Retailers are becoming increasingly optimistic about digital currencies as a payment method and see this quickly as a business necessity," the document says.

Nearly three-quarters of all respondents plan to integrate crypto, in the short or long term. That's the finding of the report.

Reportedly about 12 percent of respondents plan to internally integrate cryptocurrencies within the next 24 to 48 months. 22 percent say they already have plans for such an integration in the next 12 to 24 months. A full 39 percent say they want to integrate cryptocurrencies within the next year. Only 1 percent have no plans to use cryptocurrencies.

The complexity of integrating crypto into existing structures creates problems. 89 percent of respondents expect difficulties. According to the study, these challenges are found across all business sizes, regardless of revenue. Other hurdles are security, unclear regulations, and the volatility of the crypto market.

Methodology

Deloitte conducted the study between December 3 and 16, 2021 as a research instrument to gain more insight into general attitudes and investments in rolling out digital currency payment systems. 2,000 senior retail executives in the United States were surveyed.