Small business payment trends continue to evolve as merchants balance customer preferences with operational efficiency. While card payments account for the largest share of revenue for many small businesses, cash and checks remain important payment methods, demonstrating that consumers still value a variety of ways to pay.
Mercator Advisory Group’s research highlights how payment acceptance is expanding beyond traditional options. As interest grows in buy now, pay later (BNPL), cryptocurrency, and other emerging payment methods, small businesses are increasingly evaluating which payment options can improve customer experiences, increase sales, and support long-term growth.
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Data for today’s episode is provided by Mercator Advisory Group’s Report: 2021 Small Business PaymentsInsights: Consumer Purchasing Options
Percentage of Total Small Business Sales by Payment Method:
- Card payments accounted for the largest share of revenue among businesses surveyed by Mercator Advisory Group.
- Card payments accounted for an average of 50% of small business total sales.
- Cash accounted for an average of 36.4% of small business total sales.
- Checks accounted for an average of 30.1% of small business total sales.
- Other payment methods accounted for an average of 10.3% of small business total sales.
About Report
Mercator Advisory Group’s most recent Small Business survey report, 2021 Small Business PaymentsInsights: Consumer Purchasing Options, from its annual Small Business PaymentsInsights series, examines not only specific sales channels that consumers use to access small business products and services, but also types of payments accepted and various types of short-term financing options offered to consumers.
The report is based on an online small business survey administered between June 9th and July 16, 2021, across 2,007 U.S. Small Businesses with 2020 annual revenue between $100K and $10 million. The report also provides insight into the perspectives from small businesses on various consumer purchasing options that include BNPL, Cryptocurrency, and essential items such as chargeback prevention tools that help small businesses prosper.
“It’s encouraging and exciting to see that most small businesses have such a positive perspective on alternative payment options, such as Cryptocurrency acceptance. As the payment industry continues to change with the growth of new technologies that impact the industry, it will be very interesting to see how consumer purchasing options evolve over time.” – Amy Dunckelmann, Vice President, Research Operations, Mercator Advisory Group.
