Retail needs less complexity, not more digitalisation

Guest contribution by Robert Bueninck, CEO of Unzer

Retailers are open to change. They are investing in digital tools and better customer experiences. That is the good news. The bad news is that what often holds them back is not a lack of ambition, but complexity. Our latest survey makes that very clear.

Digitalisation cannot be a privilege reserved for large corporations. It must also be accessible, affordable and scalable for the local baker, the independent fashion retailer, the restaurant owner and the growing family business. Making that happen is a shared responsibility: for policymakers, and for payment and technology providers like us.

Retail needs less complexity

Retail will not improve simply because more technology is added to the mix. It will improve when payments, data and processes work together securely and seamlessly. That applies as much to new payment methods such as Wero as it does to AI-enabled shopping experiences. What matters is whether they create a real, everyday benefit: more choice for customers and better, more reliable decisions for retailers.

You can see how complexity builds up in almost any mid-sized business. There is one system for the online shop, another for the till, a separate provider for payments, plus tools for customer communications, accounting and inventory. Each project may have made sense on its own. Together, they create an operating environment that no one can fully see through.

Our survey reflects this: 66% of retailers see growing reliance on external service providers as a challenge, while 60% cite the difficulty of bringing together customer data across channels.

A retailer should not have to search across several systems to understand what has been sold, which payment methods customers used or whether an item is still in stock. Large corporations with dedicated IT teams may be able to manage this complexity. For many small and medium-sized businesses, however, an increasingly fragmented technology stack becomes a burden.

Payments are part of retail infrastructure

Payments play a central role here. They are far more than the final step in a purchase. They connect the customer interaction, the sale and the settlement process. When properly integrated, they also provide valuable insight into how a business is really performing.

Yet few retailers are making full use of that potential. Only 43% of those surveyed track how a customer’s chosen payment method affects whether a purchase is completed. Nearly one in four do not monitor any payment-process metrics at all. If data from the till, online shop and payment flow cannot be brought together, retailers are making some decisions in the dark. They cannot see where customers abandon a purchase, which payment options perform best or how new offers affect revenue.

Giving customers a choice of payment methods is now part of a good shopping experience, whether they pay with cash, a card, a smartphone or by invoice. But every additional payment method should not automatically mean more work for the retailer: no separate reporting, no manual reconciliation and no hidden risks in the background. Good solutions close that gap instead of opening a new one.

Retailers recognise the value themselves. Nearly nine in ten believe that centrally supported, cross-channel shopping experiences would improve customer satisfaction, while 85% expect more targeted customer engagement.

The next shift will not wait

This will become even more important as new technologies emerge. In future, AI assistants may research products, compare prices and prepare purchases on behalf of their users or even complete them autonomously. That may still sound abstract today. Yet more than half of the retailers in our survey who expressed a view expect it to become highly relevant to their business within the next one to three years.

The other responses are just as striking: 17 of the 109 retailers surveyed did not feel able to assess the issue at all. When asked about the specific challenges, that number rose to 27. A quarter of the sector has not yet formed a position on a development that could reach the checkout within three years.

The questions are clear. Who is liable if an AI assistant makes the wrong purchase? How is a payment authorised when no person initiates it directly? How are spending limits set? And who owns the customer relationship when an assistant makes the selection? These are also the concerns raised by respondents: liability, integration with the existing checkout, and the potential loss of direct customer contact.

These issues cannot be resolved after the fact. Adding another channel is not progress in itself. Progress comes when security, payment, consent and clear accountability are built into the process from the start. That requires infrastructure that is reliable and interoperable. A business already operating four disconnected systems does not have the foundation for it.

Providers have a responsibility, too

The responsibility for this shift cannot rest with retailers alone. Payment and technology providers must also ask themselves whether their solutions genuinely reduce complexity or simply add more features.

A mid-sized retailer does not need a new system for every new problem. It needs infrastructure that can grow with the business and bring different functions together in a meaningful way.

Policymakers have a role to play as well. If we want vibrant high streets, competitive small and medium-sized businesses and greater digital sovereignty, we need to make investment in modern retail and payment infrastructure easier. That means reliable rules, less unnecessary bureaucracy and conditions that allow smaller businesses to adopt new technologies with confidence.

Europe also needs competitive capabilities of its own. This does not mean closing ourselves off. In payments, we work with international partners every day and benefit from their reach and capacity for innovation. But remaining capable of acting means having open standards and providers that understand Europe’s different markets, regulations and payment preferences.

Investment must lead to progress

Retail is under significant pressure. We should neither downplay nor dramatise that fact. What matters is that many retailers are not standing still. They are investing, testing new offers and continuing to evolve their business models.

The sector is not underinvesting. Too often, however, it is forced to invest in isolated solutions that add complexity instead of reducing it.

The task for the coming years, then, is not to overwhelm small and medium-sized businesses with ever more technology. It is to make tools available that work together. That is how providers such as Unzer should be judged: not by the number of features we offer, but by how much effort we take off a retailer’s plate.

The findings are based on a survey conducted by Unzer and IFH KÖLN among 109 retailers in Germany in July 2026. The survey is not representative.

About the author Robert Bueninck

Robert Bueninck is an expert in payments and commerce, currently CEO of Unzer Group. Under his leadership, Unzer supports over 90,000 merchants across Europe, helping them go digital with simple and integrated payment and software solutions. Whether it’s shopping in-store, on mobile or online, or handling payments and daily business tasks, Unzer offers everything businesses need in one place – an ecosystem that makes retail simpler, more efficient and seamless for consumers. 

Previously, Robert spent nearly 10 years at Klarna, holding executive roles including Managing Director for Benelux and DACH, and Branch Manager of Klarna Bank in Germany.