While I was getting ready for bed last night, I gazed at my rolled-up tube of toothpaste sitting on the bathroom counter, and as my eyes rolled over the brand - Aquafresh Extreme CleanTM - I thought about how consumer- buying behaviour toward toothpaste has changed in the past three decades. Remember when toothpaste was simply there to clean your teeth and prevent cavities? Today, however, toothpaste has morphed into that whole mouth-clean trend. It whitens, brightens, freshens breath, fights plaque, fights cavities, controls tartar build-up, tastes like mint or cinnamon or bubblegum.
Changing business models
The toothpaste industry has matured to satisfy the consumer. So, if a toothpaste manufacturer sticks to offering fluoride-only paste with none of the other bells and whistles, chances are that toothpaste will no longer be in demand. Today, consumers are expecting more from their toothpaste.
Gaming operators are starting to move in the same direction. Many operators are looking to offer the whole gaming product mix as opposed to one game in order to stay competitive, which partly explains why we continue to see consolidation in the online gaming sector - it allows for operators to broaden their product offerings. They may have one core product, but the movers and shakers are offering sideline activities so as not to lose their already acquired customers (that want to play a different game) to other operators.
Likewise, payment gateways, which in their simplest form used to be the switch between the merchants and the banks for credit card processing, are now offering other forms of online payment to satisfy their customers. Those that differentiate themselves will gain market share and continue to lead the online payment space, while those that stick to credit card processing only will surely fall behind.
Apart from secure and reliable credit card processing, the leaders are providing other forms of payment through their platform such as debit card processing, PayPal, virtual cash in the form of Ukash and/or Paysafecard, inbound bank transfers and payout solutions such as cheque and bank transfer issuing services and prepaid cards.
The top payment solution providers also facilitate the set up of your merchant account(s) with the bank(s) and provide premium fraud-management tools and data with which to protect your business from fraud.
Embracing alternative online payment methods
We have seen robust growth in alternative online payment solutions for all online merchants in the past decade, and the alternative payment market continues to grow its share of the acquiring business. Interestingly, just a decade ago, analysts and merchants did not hold up much hope for the alternative payment industry. Yankee Group analyst Christine Loebar told the Ecommerce Times in 2001 that alternative payment methods in the US, for example, were "not gathering steam". She said it was a typical catch-22 in that consumers were reluctant to adopt a new web payment method if not widely accepted online, and merchants were reluctant to set up alternative systems until consumers were comfortable using them. I should note here that emerging markets were ahead of the industrialised world in terms of alternative payment method acceptance because credit card penetration is traditionally low in these markets, especially within South America and China. However, these markets were also slower to adopt online sales in general.

Autor: Neil Tug. First Atlantic Commerce (FAC) is a leading international payment gateway, multi-currency payment, risk management, online payment solution provider. For more information on online payment gateway services visit www.firstatlanticcommerce.com
Source: http://articlebiz.com/article/1051265382-1-alternative-payme~