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SPEED &
SIMPLICITY
Payment orchestration- the infrastructure advantage retailers need.
By John Tait
As retailers plan for 2026, one theme is emerging across every conversation about customer experience: payments are no longer a back-office function. They’ re a competitive differentiator. Whether shoppers are tapping a card in-store, paying through mobile wallets, ordering online or checking out at self-service kiosks, the payment is often the moment that determines whether they feel confident in the brand.
Over the past years, shifts in consumer behavior, new regulatory requirements and the expansion of digital commerce have placed significant pressure on payments infrastructure. Retailers are being asked to support more choice, more channels and more reliability, all while keeping transactions simple for customers.
At the same time, the payments ecosystem itself has become more fragmented. A typical retail environment may involve multiple gateways, processors, acquirers, alternative payment methods, fraud tools and connection points. Each one introduces complexity, cost and risk. This is where payment orchestration is gaining traction as an infrastructure-level strategy rather than a tactical add-on.
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