If you haven’t heard of Bitcoin before, you should know that it is a new digital currency, often referred to as a cryptocurrency and is, in some circles, being hailed as a solution for having a global currency. It works as a peer-to-peer distribution system and is being used by some businesses for trading.

As the CEO of an ecommerce company who has been involved with the internet since the 80s, my opinion about Bitcoin is that we just aren’t ready for it yet, and may never be. This may dismay some of the proponents of Bitcoin, but let’s think about how it is being sold as an easy solution for an ecommerce business to adapt to using several currencies at once. I wonder if Bitcoin is really a relevant concept for the average online customer? Right now, certainly with Spreadshirt (the ecommerce business I head) we’re not getting any consumer-led demand for this currency. In fact, to date, not one of our thousands of customers or shop-partners has requested to pay or be paid in Bitcoin. Why, when you already have widely accepted and recognised currencies, would you want to confuse things and demand another kind of payment?

I may be prejudiced to think against Bitcoin, and maybe this is because I was brought up in Britain feeling that any currency without a picture of the Queen was not real money. Now, this childhood view has been liberalised since I’ve now lived in America and in the Eurozone, but I still seriously question whether Bitcoin makes any sense for consumers. We’ve already got credit cards, direct payment and other methods that work well and cost the consumer nothing to use. If the consumer can’t come up with a compelling reason to adopt it, then no retailer will.

But I’m going to be open-minded. I believe that businesses do need to think ahead and future-proof their practices if they want to succeed. So, thinking like a mass-market retailer, which I am, I’ve come up with five reasons why I think the average consumer might consider using Bitcoin, and why they aren’t doing so yet:

1) Better security? Most online customers are not unhappy with transaction security when using existing methods of payment, and, to a certain extent, they are OK to live with the risk. And those that are worried tend to shop with trusted brands to reduce the risk rather than move payment methods.

2) Zero % fraud? This is a retailer problem not a consumer one. Most credit cards offer fraud protection to consumers. The cost is covered by the transactor and retailer, so the consumer does not care. Retailers cannot force consumers to use payment to suit their needs. I promise you that if I could reduce the 1% fraud on my business I would. And what’s more recent news stories highlight that as the digital currency becomes more popular, it is also becoming an attractive target for cybercriminals. And if your Bitcoins are taken, well, you're just plain out of luck.

3) Lower costs? While there won’t be lower cost to the consumer, very few retailers offer lower costs to non credit card payers. In fact, many are not allowed under their payment contracts. Other than tickets for events and travel it is rare to incur extra charges for credit cards and most consumers have debit cards.

4) Less complexity? Hmmm so a consumer has to get another currency from their everyday one and then try and work out the pricing? Well that’s not exactly likely to be easier!

5) Ideology or "sticking it to the man.” The mass-market is "the man" and wants to use what works for the man, or they just don’t care. Therefore, this will always make it a minority issue.

In brief, Bitcoin may currently be a system that largely works for tax avoiding rich who are anti-establishment and need to send money to really difficult places.

If Bitcoin is not mass-market then it will be of little use to ecommerce retailers and platforms. But I am more than happy to be proved wrong. Just show me a good argument for mass-market usage. I am no stranger to knowing that the internet has proven that revolutionary new ideas do catch on. But my job is to try and cover as many of our customers’ needs as possible, so if someday enough people tell me they want to use Bitcoin, then we will adapt and find ways of taking Bitcoin payments.

 

By Philip Rooke, CEO of Spreadshirt. 

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