Terry O’Neil, head of connected commerce and strategic growth for Citi Retail Services at Citi, said that connected commerce needs to move quickly. In fact, it needs to move at the speed of retail, as merchants must onboard new payment methods and options to meet consumer demand as physical and digital channels converge. O’Neil noted that embedding payment products next to merchandise on shopping pages—telling them, for instance, that they can buy a sofa or a fridge for a certain payment over several months—is critical to consumers feeling that a splurge or an unexpected expense is indeed affordable. O’Neil further said the monthly payment drives most of the consideration of the purchase because it’s a budgeting tool. As a result, he added, in a bid to have those payment options tied to several points higher up along the customers’ journey, you’re starting to see a lot more products enter the market—and a lot of new pricing opportunities enter the market for consumers.