How Today’s Commerce Leaders are Approaching Unified Payments
A Forrester Consulting Thought Leadership Study Commissioned By Stripe, April 2025
2025 will see significant disruption to the global payments landscape as the use of cash continues to diminish and companies struggle to cultivate customer experience and trust.1 Shopping experiences and customers’ expectations are rapidly evolving, requiring organizations to keep pace.
Forrester conducted an online survey of 305 global B2C commerce technology decision-makers and found that 77% of commerce leaders wanted to better personalize customer interactions and product recommendations.
Preferred payment methods, new ways to pay, and rewards programs are becoming table stakes. Companies can improve experiences by giving consumers a broad choice of payment methods, mitigating transaction fraud and security risks, and streamlining payment processes.2
However, commerce leaders are grappling with payments challenges that stifle growth: 38% of decision-makers said their organization doesn’t have the payments technology it needs to successfully compete. Poor payments performance and systems integrations result in slower payments processing, add to mounting costs, and hinder innovation and global expansion.
To satisfy customers’ expectations and differentiate from competitors, businesses are increasing investments in unified payments solutions. Commerce leaders must adopt a strategy that unifies payments across channels and geographies, builds seamless customer journeys, streamlines operational complexity, and generates a single source of truth for consumer data. By doing so, they can drive better customer experiences and enable the business to grow.
Key Findings
- Commerce leaders know they must modernize their technology to compete. Some 74% emphasized the importance of differentiating their checkout and point-of-sale experience from their competitors. They want better digital experiences and payments solutions that can deliver localized operations and enable growth in new markets. But they first need reliable and unified payments solutions.
- Siloed, outdated payments technology erodes the customer experience and bottom line. Fifty-five percent of decision-makers admitted to using poor data processes that hinder creating better customer experiences. Payments operations are too complex and inflexible, making expansion into new geographies and channels difficult and risky. The result: Costs and inefficiencies soar, while the business struggles to grow.
- Businesses are investing more to modernize their payments technology. Three in four respondents said their business plans to increase their payments technology investment by 10% or more over the coming year to address key challenges. By modernizing payments solutions, they can deliver superior customer experiences and focus on expanding the business.
- Businesses seek partners that can accelerate growth. By tapping trusted providers to integrate their commerce systems and data, leaders expected to boost customer engagement and productivity. On average, they expect their revenue to increase 14% and operational costs to drop 11% by investing in unifying payments.
Consulting Team:
Jason Daniels, Senior Market Impact Consultant
Contributing Research:
Forrester’s Digital Business research group
Customers are more demanding than ever. Their growing expectations of fast, self-service interactions are fueling commerce leaders’ interest in payments solutions that offer greater ease of use and speed to market.3 Forrester’s research and our survey of 305 B2C commerce technology decision-makers reveal that many organizations also want greater reliability from unification (see Figure 1).4
Commerce leaders are under pressure to reduce deployment time for in-store payments and keep abreast of industry trends or lose competitive advantage. To that end, 45% are making checkout and point-of-sale innovation a priority over the coming year. These innovations will primarily focus on the digital customer experience, including new payment methods, such as biometric payments, and brand wallets to improve consumer engagement.
Figure 1
Top Priorities For Overall Commerce Tech And Payments For The Next 12 Months
![[TEIImageAltText]](img/figures/Figure1.svg)
Base: 305 global decision-makers for their organization’s commerce technology ecosystem
Note: Showing top five responses
Source: Forrester’s Q4 2024 Unified Payments Survey [E-61683]
Taking these innovations from concept to reality can be challenging if you lack foundational payments capabilities: 38% of respondents didn’t feel their organization has the payments technology it needs to successfully compete today. Meanwhile, 68% recognized that it’s crucial to unify payments data into a single view across channels and lines of business to streamline payments processes and 64% said the same for simplifying integrations and vendors.
Global expansion is also a core focus: Businesses need payments solutions that can deliver localized operations and enable growth in new markets (see Figure 2).
Figure 2
Importance Of Payments Technology Capabilities
![[TEIImageAltText]](img/figures/Figure2.svg)
Base: 305 global decision-makers for their organization’s commerce technology ecosystem
Note: Showing top four responses
Source: Forrester’s Q4 2024 Unified Payments Survey [E-61683]
POOR PAYMENTS PERFORMANCE AND FRAGMENTED TECH STACKS STIFLE INNOVATION
Payments service providers currently include both legacy holdovers and newer entrants. Legacy providers in particular struggle to offer consolidated platforms and APIs that enable payments across channels and geographies.5 Fractured and legacy payments technology impedes payments performance, hamstrings expansion and innovation, and adds to operational complexity.
Survey respondents said they struggle with incomplete system integrations, lack data and analytics, can’t make personalized product recommendations, and have too many payments technologies (see Figure 3). They also face:
- Poor data governance and compliance. Fifty-five percent of decision-makers admitted to lackluster data processes that limit their ability to improve customer experiences, hinder accurate reporting and financial planning, and place the business at greater risk.
- Costs of upgrading solutions. Fifty-one percent cited mounting costs as a result of incomplete and fractured commerce technology ecosystems.
- Difficulty expanding globally. While 51% said their current payments solutions don’t meet their organization’s need to expand to new geographies, 44% said expanding into new regions and channels is too slow and 41% said it’s too complicated.
Figure 3
Payments Technology Challenges
![[TEIImageAltText]](img/figures/Figure3.svg)
Base: 305 global decision-makers for their organization’s commerce technology ecosystem
Note: Showing top four responses
Source: Forrester’s Q4 2024 Unified Payments Survey [E-61683]
ORGANIZATIONS MUST UNIFY THEIR PAYMENTS TECHNOLOGY OR LOSE OUT TO COMPETITORS THAT OFFER BETTER EXPERIENCES
Incomplete, outdated, and fragmented payments technologies have critical repercussions for the business. Decision-makers said their payments challenges hinder their top organizational priorities, leading to (see Figure 4):
- Increased costs. Respondents said higher operational costs is the top outcome of their payments challenges, which hamper growth and innovation.
- Slower time to market and lower efficiency. Decision-makers also experienced organizational inefficiency and a lack of productivity (e.g., from multiple payments technologies that are not unified).
- Greater risks. A lack of compliance and regulation oversight is a concern.
- Loss of revenue. Crucially, 27% of respondents said their organization leaves revenue on the table due to its payments challenges.
Commerce leaders are clear: They want their payments technology to be more integrated, quicker, and easier to use.
Figure 4
Impact Of Payments Technology Challenges On The Business
![[TEIImageAltText]](img/figures/Figure4.svg)
Base: 305 global decision-makers for their organization’s commerce technology ecosystem
Note: Showing top five responses
Source: Forrester’s Q4 2024 Unified Payments Survey [E-61683]
Encouragingly, businesses are taking action to overcome key payments barriers: 75% of respondents said their business plans to increase investments in payments technology by 10% or more in the next year (see Figure 5).
Respondents also emphasized the importance of unifying payments solutions: 47% pointed to orchestration layers that can connect and route to multiple payments service providers; 47% wanted personalization capabilities that target customer interactions and product recommendations; and 45% looked for additional payment methods and loyalty programs.
Figure 5
Investment In Payments Technology Change Over The Next Year Compared To The Past Year
![[TEIImageAltText]](img/figures/Figure5.svg)
Base: 305 global decision-makers for their organization’s commerce technology ecosystem
Source: Forrester’s Q4 2024 Unified Payments Survey [E-61683]
TRUSTED PAYMENTS PROVIDERS ACCELERATE UNIFICATION AND BUSINESS GROWTH
Businesses are beginning to make shifts in their payments strategy, but they can’t do so alone. To achieve the full payoff from unified payments, they must seek strategic partnerships that align with business needs.
When businesses consolidate with a single payments provider rather than disparate providers, they can unlock myriad opportunities. As a result of investing in unifying payments solutions over the next year, respondents said they expect to achieve (see Figure 6):
- Improved customer experiences and loyalty. Customers want to pay at speed and without friction, such as starting a subscription in store, using brand wallets to earn rewards, and paying via fingerprint or facial recognition. As such, about half of respondents expected improved customer experience and loyalty as a result of investing in unifying payments solutions.
- Enhanced efficiency. Nearly half of decision-makers anticipated greater operational efficiency thanks to faster and easier processes. Gaining a single view of systems and data could streamline functions and allow the business to focus on innovation and growth.
- Increased revenue. Forty-six percent of respondents pointed to top-line growth from investing in unifying payments solutions. The expected gains are significant: On average, respondents said they expect their revenue to increase by 14% and their operational costs to decrease by 11% over the next year.
To realize the benefits of unified payments, leaders must seek providers that offer operational flexibility, singular views of data, and optimized checkout experiences.
Figure 6
Expected Benefits From Investing In Unifying Payments Solutions Over The Next 12 Months
![[TEIImageAltText]](img/figures/Figure6.svg)
Base: 305 global decision-makers for their organization’s commerce technology ecosystem
Note: Showing top four responses
Source: Forrester’s Q4 2024 Unified Payments Survey [E-61683]
Forrester’s in-depth survey of 305 global B2C commerce leaders about payments technology yielded several important recommendations:
Appendix A: Methodology
In this study, Forrester conducted an online survey of 305 global B2C commerce technology decision-makers to evaluate the state of payments technology. Survey participants included respondents at the manager level and above in retail, travel and hospitality, and food and beverage industries. Questions provided to the participants asked about current priorities, challenges, and expected benefits from using payments technology. Respondents were offered a small incentive as a thank-you for time spent on the survey. The study began in November and was completed in December 2024.
Appendix B: Demographics/Data
Countries
| United States | 26% |
| Australia | 17% |
| Singapore | 17% |
| United Kingdom | 11% |
| France | 11% |
| Germany | 10% |
| Canada | 7% |
Company size
| 20,000 or more | 17% |
| 5,000 to 19,999 | 22% |
| 1,000 to 4,999 | 38% |
| 500 to 999 | 24% |
Industry
| Retail | 34% |
| Travel and hospitality | 33% |
| Food and beverage | 33% |
Departments
| IT | 19% |
| Finance | 16% |
| Operations | 16% |
| Marketing | 15% |
| Engineering | 12% |
| Procurement | 11% |
| Product management | 10% |
Position
| C-level | 14% |
| Vice president | 24% |
| Director | 31% |
| Manager | 31% |
Commerce technology responsibility
| Final decision-maker | 25% |
| Part of a team | 41% |
| Influence decisions | 34% |
Note: Percentages may not total 100 due to rounding
Appendix C: Supplemental Material
Related Forrester Research
Demystifying The Technical Functions Of Merchant Payment Providers, Forrester Research, Inc., December 23, 2024.
The State Of Retail Payments In 2024, Forrester Research, Inc., December 10, 2024.
Demystifying The Technical Functions Of Point-Of-Service (POS) Solutions, Forrester Research, Inc., December 6, 2024.
The US Real-Time Payments Opportunity For Consumer-Facing Businesses, Forrester Research, Inc., November 22, 2024.
Retailers Are Reassessing Their POS Technology Strategies And Accepting Trade-Offs, Forrester Research, Inc., August 2, 2024.
FIRE Technology Evaluation Tool, Forrester Research, Inc., February 20, 2024.
Additional Resources
December 11, 2024, Predictions 2025: Digital Commerce Webinar.
November 19, 2024, Unified Commerce Is Not A Thing (But There’s Value In Some Forms Of Unification In Commerce Tech) Webinar.
November 20, 2024, Predictions 2025: Payments Webinar.
Appendix D: Endnotes
1 Source: Predictions 2025: Payments, Forrester Research, Inc., October 23, 2024.
2 Source: The Merchant Payment Providers In Asia Pacific Landscape, Q3 2024, Forrester Research, Inc., August 29, 2024.
3 Source: The Forrester Wave™: Point-Of-Service Solutions, Q4 2024, Forrester Research, Inc., November 14, 2024.
4 Source: Lessons Learned From The Forrester Wave™: Point-Of-Service Solutions, Q4 2024, Forrester Research, Inc., February 5, 2025.
5 Source: The Forrester Wave™: Merchant Payment Providers, Q1 2024, Forrester Research, Inc., March 14, 2024.
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