Retail spend is expected to increase by $6 trillion globally between 2018 and 2023 - taking total spend to $30 trillion - with growth driven by a combination of alternative payment mechanisms and online spend.

This is according to Juniper Research, which noted that stakeholders face a host of competitive and regulatory challenges if they are to take full advantage of the opportunity.

Reducing friction at the checkout remains a key hurdle, with online cart abandonment rates high, while in many markets, in-store spend will plateau or even decline; increasing the likelihood that major retail chains may be obliged to scale back their physical presence even further.

The research also assessed strategic approaches of over 40 payment processors, mobile wallets and telecom payment providers, comparing their capabilities, breadth and depth of their service offerings and future prospects.

Juniper argued that cart abandonment rates can be reduced by a combination of measures, including implementation of card-on-file, one-click payment solutions and ensuring that both popular local payment currencies and checkout procedures are on offer.

The analysis found the scale of potentially lost revenue, either through false positives, costly manual reviews or chargeback costs, was substantially greater than the costs of robust fraud detection and prevention solutions.

A recent Retail Systems feature identified security issues as a major stumbling block for the adoption of cashierless technologies in stores.

Research author Windsor Holden stated: “Service providers must focus on highlighting the bottom-line benefits of identifying genuine transactions as a priority over simply promoting the ability to reduce transaction or account fraud.”

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