European financial services provider Mollie looks ahead to the year ahead in e-commerce and the FinTech sector. Philippe Daly, his vice-president France, highlights a new approach to e-commerce focused on current economic issues.
The year 2023 will be difficult and optimization will dominate e-commerce strategies. Economic recession will reduce spending across all sectors. This will be particularly true for spending on non-essential goods and services, which will have a significant impact on sectors like fashion. Black Friday volumes are also a key indicator of the difficulty of the year that is ending and that to come.. This means ecommerce businesses will have to fight for every sale and focus on optimization : perfect the payment experience and ensure they can meet growing consumer expectations for local payment methods, fast delivery and free returns.
A delicate year for BNPL
BNPL (Buy Now Pay Later), the “super star” of new payment methods, going to have a tricky year. First of all, this method of deferred payment or in installments will grow to allow consumers to better manage their finances during the difficult period to come. Ensuite, authorities will step up efforts to protect consumers due to economic climate and debt concerns. At the same time, some BNPL providers will find that their pricing model may not withstand the recession and costs for merchants will increase. Finally, as defaults increase, more BNPL requests will be refused. It is difficult to predict exactly what will happen due to the large number of factors to take into account, but BNPL will no longer be the same at the end of 2023.
The Headless solution will be the way to ensure the future
Headless technology allows e-commerce companies to more finely optimize their customer experience without having to bear the massive costs of a complete platform overhaul. Medium and large retailers are more likely to explore this option, because they already have internal technical capabilities (unlike SMEs who rely more on ready-to-use packages and integrations). The Headless system will enable large SMEs to gain independence from static e-commerce ecosystems and the limits they impose on optimization and growth.
VR and AR shopping will lose momentum
Despite some initial excitement, the rising cost of living will slow the adoption of virtual reality (RV) and augmented reality (OUT) by consumers and all traders, with the exception of the largest. Mixed reality shopping experimentation will also slow down. 2023 will not be the year of VR and AR shopping.
Consolidation in the tools domain will intensify
A large number of SaaS companies (Software-as-a-Service) serving e-commerce companies will struggle to raise prices and maintain profitability in 2023. It is reasonable to think that these players will refocus on their main offerings to add more value, while reducing the R&D. The natural conclusion will be consolidation later in the year, when small-scale SaaS providers realize they need more ways to succeed. For traders, it will be imperative to ensure that their tools continue to interact, which is not always 
obvious. They will need to ensure that their main e-commerce and payment platform providers offer APIs (application programming interface) fully flexible and an ecosystem of partner integrations to help merchants succeed.
The distinction between physical sales and online sales will blur
Digital capabilities created a hybrid retail environment and encouraged some shoppers to return to stores. The click system & collect, delivery, the shift to flexible points of sale is changing the fabric of the industry and the way people shop. It’s not yet quite the realization of the omnichannel dream, but this goal is not far away.
MOLLIE, A REFERENCE IN EUROPE
Founded in 2004, Mollie is a pioneer in the payments solutions industry and one of the fastest growing financial services providers in Europe. Mollie has more than 130,000 customers and an international team of more than 750 employees. It has offices throughout Europe, especially in Amsterdam, Lisbon, London, Munich and Paris.
