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pivoted to online sales, prospects are improving. Adobe
Insider’sreport Analytics, for example, reports that small businesses
on average saw online sales increase by 110 percent in
on payments November.

Clearly, the pandemic has highlighted the importance
businesses should be placing on diversifying sales
channels—on meeting customers where they feel most
comfortable shopping. It should be a wake-up call for ISOs
and merchant level salespeople (MLSs) as well. For the
Ecommerce takes better part 20 years, industry insiders have emphasized the
consultative approach to merchant services. It shouldn't
center stage just be about selling terminals and shaving basis points off
transaction processing costs.

By Patti Murphy If current shopping trends continue, merchants will be less
interested in terminals and more inclined toward solutions
ProScribes Inc. that support ecommerce sales. And they will need a
business consultant to help them successfully transition to
he end-of-year holiday season is well underway, this new sales environment.
and is promising to add a much-needed boost
to retail sales. The National Retail Federation Most small business owners are not skilled in building
T predicts holiday sales rung up in November and ecommerce sites that are as compelling as their brick-and-
December will total between $755.3 billion and $766.7 bil- mortar stores. This presents an opportunity for ISOs and
lion, or between 3.6 percent and 5.2 percent over the same MLSs to bring additional value to those businesses.
period last year. If the NRF's prediction holds true, the
year-over-year increase in spending would be in line with Nabbing new sales opportunities
those registered the previous six years.
"If you're not going back to each and every merchant [in
"Consumers have shown they are excited about the holidays your portfolio] and saying 'I can get you online,' then
and are willing to spend on gifts that lift the spirit of family you're losing an opportunity to remain a person of value to
and friends after such a challenging year," said Matthew those merchants," Keith Sampson, national sales director at
Shay, NRF president and CEO. Jack Kleinhenz, NRF chief North American Bancard, said during a recent episode of
economist, added, "Consumers have experienced a difficult the Merchant Sales Podcast.
year but will likely spend more than anyone would have
expected just a few months ago." At the start of the pandemic, Sampson recalled, NAB
entered into partnership with the SaaS-based ecommerce
But the big story here is that most of the percentage platform BigCommerce to simplify and streamline the
increase will be driven by online and other non-face-to- ecommerce journey. "We're partnering with them in the
face channels. The NRF expects online holiday sales to same way as we do other resource partners, like providers
total somewhere between $202.5 billion and $218.4 billion. of POS systems," Sampson told me in a later interview. "By
In 2019, consumers spent $168.7 billion online during the bringing BigCommerce into our fold, working together to
last two months of the year. That works out to a year-over- simplify the process, we're positioning our sales partners
year increase of 20 to 30 percent for online sales. to provide a valuable product offering."
The COVID connection The two companies collaborate on sales, implementations
and training of agents and merchants. "They [BigCommerce]
Much of that increase is being driven by the COVID-19 can actually help sell the account," he said. For example,
pandemic. In April and May, when most pandemic-related an MLS can send a client a link for a 15-day free trial
shutdowns were taking hold, consumers spent $153 billion with BigCommerce. BigCommerce then will block ads for
online. The online resource eMarketer predicts overall competing payment services providers from reaching the
sales at brick-and-mortar businesses will fall by 14 percent client and keep the MLS apprised of how the trial is going.
this year compared to last year, and ecommerce sales will
grow 18 percent over 2019 totals. Eventually, Sampson said, NAB plans to integrate directly
with the BigCommerce platform, eliminating the need for
According to business listing site Yelp, 60 percent of small third-party gateways.
businesses that were forced to close due to the pandemic
have done so for good. But among those that survived and Patti Murphy is senior editor at The Green Sheet and co-host of the
Merchant Sales Podcast. Follow her on Twitter @GS_PayMaven.

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