A new study by leading research firm Forrester Consulting found that retailers that accept Bitcoin as a payment method attracted new customers and significantly boosted sales. Those results for Bitcoin adopters were part of a big overall gain in ROI caused by Bitcoin adoption.
The study, commissioned by Bitcoin payment service provider BitPay, showed that Bitcoin adopters stood to benefit in multiple ways when adopting the increasingly popular cryptocurrency for payments.
Multiple benefits of Bitcoin adoption
According to the study, Bitcoin adopters saw the following benefits:
- New customer sales rose by 40%. According to Forrester, “Many customers who pay with bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies through BitPay are new to the merchant and would not have purchased otherwise.”
- Average order values surged more than twofold. According to the study, users of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies logged an average order value of about $450. That’s more than double the $200 AOV for shoppers who did not use crypto to make their purchases.
- Lower fees. Retailers have historically paid significant user fees when processing purchases made by credit card. According to Forrester, merchants surveyed in this study who became Bitcoin adopters avoided 2.25% in transaction fees.
- Fewer chargebacks. Retailers dread chargebacks, an occurrence that returns money back to consumers and is most common among users of credit cards, in particular American Express. The study found that the security of blockchain-backed cryptocurrencies helped prevent payment mistakes and fraud, saving merchants about 1% of total sales.
Bitcoin adoption produced a 327% ROI
Forrester’s methodology combined both the added benefits and reduced costs associated with merchants adopting Bitcoin as a payment method.
Forrester tallied the combined value from
