According to recent evidence, businesses are starting to adopt modern payment options in heretofore unseen numbers. While hard numbers are still unavailable, preliminary anecdotes seem to indicate that part of the reason is an attempt to attract younger consumers who might not otherwise purchase particular goods or services.

Should they not have access to a preferred payment option, some consumers might shy away from shopping at certain online sites. It seems that fears over this fact are now influencing brick-and-mortar businesses as well. On top of this, some companies are starting to explore alternate revenue streams as they struggle to remain relevant in an increasingly diversified marketplace.

Physical Stores Buy into Virtual Solutions

According to many small business owners, offering flexible payment options is absolutely vital for anyone attempting to reach a younger demographic. Some people have reported that certain consumers are unwilling or possibly unable to use traditional plastic as a method of finance.

Upstart technology companies have begun using cryptocurrency tokens as a medium of trade when paying employees. Others use popular online payment sites like PayPal. As a result, store owners have installed hardware that can parse these forms of payment.

These devices offer other benefits for users as well. For instance, some retailers sell goods from a motor vehicle on weekends. Others travel to trade shows and flea markets. As a result, there are periods where they've only been able to accept cash.

Small business owners in particular have found it difficult to adapt, but they can now install mobile apps that interface with the register accounts deployed in their physical stores. As a result, they'll be able to leverage multichannel sales technology that was once available only to larger enterprise-level firms.

Crafters in particular have adopted this model, since they're able to market homemade goods to a wider array of consumers in this way. Others, however, have instead decided to focus on deploying donation software as a way to monetize their online operations.

Alternative Methods of Finance in the World of Small Business

While conventional banks are reluctant to look at donation models as anything but the way that charities fund themselves, many online businesses now earn a significant portion of their profits using this system. Younger consumers are likely to connect with people who have similar backgrounds and are potentially willing to help those who are sincere in their requests.

This might not sound like much of a business, but an increasingly large percentage of the online business population are electing to go with it. For that matter, some progressive eCommerce-targeting banks are willing to let business owners borrow against their future donation potential.

Modern donation technology allows people to give money in one of several ways. Financial institutions are of course most willing to back those that use traditional plastic or services like PayPal that fund directly from a bank account. However, there are other methods at the disposal of companies that are willing to make this jump.

Virtual Currencies in the Financial Market

UnionPay now accounts for nearly half of all plastic-based transactions in China. Companies that do any kind of business overseas need to pay attention to this kind of trend so that they don't risk falling behind and losing out on sales to younger overseas consumers.

Nevertheless, virtual currencies are making the biggest splash in the market. Conservative banks that don't care to incur the extra risk that comes with Bitcoin and other similar payment systems have instead started to look toward mobile-based schemes like Samsung Pay.

More progressive businesses have begun to integrate peer-to-peer transactions into their day-to-day operations.

Trade & Barter Makes a Comeback

Many P2P sales systems resemble extremely sophisticated trade and barter arrangements. A consumer might do something for a retailer or exchange goods for points on a social site. Younger shoppers are far more likely to engage in this kind of behavior according to research, though there's a large portion of senior consumers who are experimenting with the model.

Retailers who are experimenting with this model are finding it increasingly difficult to explain it to creditors. Companies that need to borrow money often have to mortgage their future by showing projected future sales. This can be difficult when a firm isn't directly selling anything at all.

However, the allure of a younger affluent tech-savvy population is far too good for many companies to ignore. Some are opting to work with upstart finance firms that only have a nebulous online presence. These firms are more willing to loan money to other firms that have an experimental business model.

Angel investors have also been looked at as a source of much-needed capital. Regardless of what method they look for, however, it's obvious that companies will continue to do whatever it takes to attract younger consumers and the money they bring with them.