5 Payment Trends Set to Transform the Retail Landscape in 2025

The retail landscape is constantly evolving. As the lines blur between high-street shopping and online ecommerce, traditional brick-and-mortar stores are beginning to adapt to a digitalised future.
As we embrace technology in-store and welcome omnichannel shopping, all aspects of the retail buyer journey are changing. Today’s shoppers engage with multiple touchpoints before making a purchase, and when they do, they have numerous payment options to choose from.
From digital wallets to buy-now-pay-later, this phygital movement happening within the retail industry is set to redefine consumer payment trends in 2025.
According to PWC, cashless payment volumes are set to triple, rising to more than $3 trillion per year. Alongside this, 73% of customers are now interacting with multiple touchpoints during the buyer journey, providing them with more options for payment than ever before.
With this in mind, we’ve compiled a list of the five most impactful payment trends set to transform the retail sector in the year ahead.
The Power Of Loyalty Scheme Integrations
As we embrace a phygital future in the retail sector, omnichannel brand experiences are becoming all the more common.
Leading retail brands now have multiple channels for customers to interact with, including an app and an online store, as well as a brick-and-mortar location.
Using a POS for retailers, brands can now link these channel interactions to create one seamless buyer journey for the customer. For example, if a customer makes a purchase online, the points earned from the conversion can be spent in-store or on the app.
Loyalty scheme integrations allow for fuss-free buyer journeys and attract retention as buyers save up their points to spend in-store.
The Rise Of Digital Wallets
The rise of digital wallets is considered to be one of the most impactful changes we’ve seen in the retail payment sector.
According to experts, digital wallet use is set to exceed 4.8 billion people in 2025, suggesting that more than half of the population is familiar with digital payment methods such as Apple Pay and Google Pay.
Digital wallets have allowed modern-day consumers to go cashless on the high street. With the ability to tap their device to make a payment, this phenomenon has already overtaken contactless card payments.
Better still, for retailers, digital wallets also come with their benefits. Retail stores can capture data from each mobile payment and use it to personalise the buyer journey.
The Self-Checkout Experience
Self-checkouts are becoming a popular feature in retail stores across the globe. As a brilliant way to cut down checkout lines and reduce the need for in-store cashiers, self-checkout solutions are redefining the modern shopping experience.
However, in 2025, some brands are taking self-checkout kiosks one step further. The introduction of ‘pay anywhere in-store’ now allows retailers to accept payments anywhere within the store to create a more convenient buying experience for consumers.
For example, if a brand sells large items such as heavy furniture, offering customers the chance to convert on the spot saves the hassle of dragging items to the checkout.
The Introduction of BNPL
One payment trend taking the retail sector by storm in 2025 is the introduction of buy-now-pay-later.
This payment method allows customers to purchase a product in-store and choose to pay for it at a later date using forms of credit or an arranged digital transaction set up by a third-party provider.
BNPL carries great benefits for retailers with a high average transaction value (ATV). With the ability to make products more affordable, retailers increase their chances of conversion.
According to experts at PWC, BNPL volume is expected to grow by 25% in 2025 as more retailers integrate the payment option in-store.
The Rise of Digital Currencies
Last but not least, the rise in the use of digital currencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum and stablecoins could also have an impact on retail payments in 2025.
While these types of currency are yet to gain traction in the material share of transactions, they are set to quadruple by 2029.
As we step into 2025, large companies like Adidas and AirBnB have already introduced digital currency payments to checkout. Adding as many payment options as possible improves convenience for a diverse range of customers and encourages more conversions across channels.
Where Will Retail Payments Go Next?
The retail sector is certainly on track for reformation. As we embrace a phygital future, the evolving buyer journey will continue to transform how customers make payments in-store.
From self-checkout kiosks to loyalty program integrations, the future of retail payments is fast, effective and convenient to encourage more conversions on an omnichannel scale.
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