Climbing the growth curve: unlocking revenue opportunities for small businesses
On the island of Möja in the Stockholm archipelago, the Wikströms Fisk restaurant is run by three generations of the family. Every morning dad Rune braves the weather in his boat Kajsa to catch the fish that is then served in the restaurant. Daughter Stina and granddaughter Matilda prepare the catch and grandson Pontus serves. Mamma Inga-Lill takes it a little more calmly these days but is still there every day.
“Being remote, cash handling is that much more complicated on the island. And with summer in particular bringing guests from all over the world, it was important that we can offer a means of payment that most people use and trust, regardless of where they come from. Life was undeniably simplified with the help of Visa,” says Stina.
European eCommerce sales accounted for EUR 718 billion in 20211 but digital sales are growing on the high street too, where contactless digital wallet payments are expected to reach 14% by 20242. Digital payments are not just improving the consumer experience, they’re helping small businesses unlock new revenue opportunities.
For Wikströms Fisk, a business that is both beloved by customers and relied upon, not just by three generations of Stina’s family but by a local economy too, simplification is key. In this case that comes from freeing up time from having to manage physical cash, so they can focus on serving their customers. Also by making the transition to digital payments, Wikströms Fisk benefits from greater sales tracking to improve inventory management, and better data visibility to create more predictable cashflow.
The foundations of the European economy
Businesses like Wikströms Fisk are more than just touching stories. Their successes are crucial to the European economy, which is built on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). These SMEs are a vital component of the private sector, making up 99% of all businesses in the European Union, employing around 100 million people and accounting for more than half of Europe’s GDP3.
So, when small businesses succeed, everyone in the region benefits.
Diminishing obstacles and lowering barriers to entry
While online commerce has moved quickly, online fraud hasn’t been far behind. But the financial community is working hard to stay ahead. In 2021, Visa prevented $25 billion worth of unauthorised payments globally4 and has invested close to $9 billion in the past five years in cybersecurity and fraud prevention. And it’s working, with card-not-present fraud rates currently around 0.1% of transactions5, some of the lowest for any payment type.
You can read more here about some of the innovations that are helping European small businesses grow their revenue securely and with confidence through new forms of digital payments.
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1 Ecommerce News Europe (2022) Ecommerce in Europe https://ecommercenews.eu/ecommerce-in-europe/
2 Bdaily (2021) E-Wallet Use Soars in Europe https://bdaily.co.uk/articles/2021/10/25/e-wallet-use-soars-in-europe
3 European Commission, Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (https://single-market-economy.ec.europa.eu/smes_en
4 Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (2021) Business population estimates for the UK https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/business-population-estimates-2021/business-population-estimates-for-the-uk-and-regions-2021-statistical-release-html
5 https://usa.visa.com/about-visa/newsroom/press-releases.releaseId.16421.html#:~:text=Visa%20Prevents%20Approximately%20%2425%20Billion%20in%20Fraud%20Using,Advanced%20Authorization%20helps%20drive%20commerce%20and%20consumer%20confidence
6 Visa 2021 Fraud Data
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