As the e-commerce channel expands its share of total retail sales worldwide, it’s often thought that credit and debit cards are the primary beneficiaries. Clearly consumers can’t write paper checks for most purchases at digital stores, so other instruments are likely to be used. However, depending on the country and consumer habits, cash still remains a viable payment option for e-commerce transactions — with the help of a third party to handle the payment.
Additionally, the two main Chinese mobile wallets, Alipay and WeChat Pay, are seeing strong consumer demand for use in-stores. Similarly, the Indian e-wallet Paytm is experiencing rapid adoption in physical stores and at food carts, where retailers have been slow to adopt credit and debit cards due to their high interchange fees.