As the digital economy accelerates post-pandemic, small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are feeling the pressure to match the seamless, omnichannel shopping experience offered by enterprise retailers. The expectation for unified commerce—where digital and physical shopping are fully integrated—is no longer optional; it’s a competitive necessity.

Insights from the recent Global Digital Shopping Index: SMB Edition, commissioned by Visa Acceptance Solutions highlight the widening digital gap. The report, based on surveys from over 18,000 consumers and 3,400 merchants across eight countries, reveals that while shoppers consistently engage with digital tools, SMBs are lagging behind in delivering cross-channel experiences.

Despite the dominance of mobile-driven commerce, fewer than half of SMBs globally offer dedicated mobile apps or optimized websites, and they remain 45% less likely than larger retailers to provide frictionless digital shopping across all touchpoints. On average, SMBs trail enterprise firms by eight key digital shopping features—including stored credentials, biometric payment options, and real-time compliance-enabled checkout solutions.

Physical retail remains the primary channel for many SMBs. Approximately 15.9% of small businesses still operate exclusively through brick-and-mortar stores, compared to just 4.3% of larger enterprises. While 40.6% of SMBs utilize both online and offline channels, they still fall short of the 47.4% of large firms offering a fully integrated presence.

Yet the data reveals a significant opportunity. Consumer behavior has evolved; nearly one-third of respondents browse products via mobile daily, and 23.7% use smartphones in-store to support their purchase journey. Payment preferences, including the desire for biometric authentication, stored payment data, and transparency about accepted payment methods, are increasingly influencing where consumers choose to shop.

For African SMBs in particular, this digital shift offers both a challenge and an opening. By embracing compliance management systems, payment innovation, and RegTech solutions, these businesses can leapfrog legacy infrastructure and deliver competitive experiences. Tools like compliance automation, mobile-first payment gateways, and regulatory reporting software can streamline customer experiences while ensuring adherence to regional and global regulatory frameworks.

According to the report, 55% of consumers said their choice of retailer is directly influenced by the availability of preferred payment options—a metric where SMBs trail larger counterparts by 15 percentage points. However, the report also emphasizes that smaller firms, due to their agility, are uniquely positioned to innovate faster, especially in in-store digital enablement.

Collaboration with third-party partners and RegTech platforms can further reduce the time to market for deploying digital capabilities such as fraud detection, AML-compliant checkout, and KYC-enabled customer onboarding—transforming SMBs from digital laggards into resilient, compliance-driven innovators.

As Africa’s digital retail ecosystem expands, closing this gap isn’t just a competitive play—it’s a strategic imperative for long-term growth, risk mitigation, and regulatory alignment.