Unfiltered with Lochan Sim: When Did Payments Become a Full-Time Job for Distributors?

It’s easy to assume that customer demand for flexible, frictionless, self-serve experiences is reserved for day-to-day eCommerce and consumer retail.

Yet in truth, these high expectations have already been carried over into all business transactions and experiences.

The distribution companies we work with at Klipboard are feeling this pressure – particularly when it comes to payments. To meet these demands, they're investing in a range of payment channels, including eCommerce and Pay by Link, alongside buyer financing options such as Buy Now Pay Later.

However, adding new tools can result in increasingly complex payment processes, rising admin costs, inconsistent buyer experiences across different channels and, ultimately, more late payments.

After speaking to our customers about these challenges, we wanted to get a more comprehensive picture of the industry as a whole. We conducted a survey of 1,000 distribution employees and customers across the UK and the US to better understand their existing payment processes and the obstacles they’re currently facing.

The full 2026 Distribution Payments Report is now available via our website.

Here are several findings that stood out to me:

81% of businesses currently use two or more disconnected payment providers

Offering customers flexibility in payment options typically means working with different providers.

The logic for adopting these channels is sound: 95% of distributors believe offering multiple payment options drives customer loyalty.

The challenge that arises is the disconnection between different options.  Each solution comes with its own contracts, reporting, settlement timelines and support processes.

To make matters worse, they don’t integrate with business management software.

This can have a raft of consequences, including:

• Incorrect payment matching, increasing the risk of customers being chased for invoices they've already paid
• Delays in delivery due to the manual verification processing required across different solutions
• Drawn out refund processes – something customers are likely to be sensitive about
• Inconsistent payment experiences across channels and depots
• Lost sales opportunities when customers need to clear overdue balances, as slow payment allocation can delay account release and order processing

The accumulation of disconnected payment providers – something we refer to as payment sprawl – is exacerbated as businesses grow.

Across all the data, just 18% of distributors have a single payment provider that can cover all their needs.

55% of companies spend over six hours per week on manual payment administration

Payment was once a back-office task, but thanks to payment sprawl, it’s quietly grown to become its own operational function for distribution businesses.

More payment systems mean more errors, slower reconciliation, and heightened risk of fraud.

To manage this increasing burden, nearly all (97%) the businesses we surveyed have at least one person fully dedicated to payment admin.

There’s no denying the importance of this activity, but instead of adding value, managing payments is draining resources from distribution companies – resources that would be better spent helping the business grow[LS2] .

While leading digital businesses treat payments as a source of competitive advantage, for many distributors it's still viewed as an operational burden rather than a function that can help increase sales, improve customer experience and accelerate cash flow.

99% of distributors deal with late payments

Almost the entire sample (99%) of distributors is experiencing late payments.

Of all the findings in the report, this was the one that surprised me most.

In practical terms, that means almost all of these businesses are:

• Losing revenue because of late payments
• Exerting staff resources chasing overdue invoices
• Experiencing unnecessary pressure on cash flow
• Delaying investment in growth, stock, technology and staff

The higher the average order value, the more the problem intensifies.

But while late payments have become the norm, their impact shouldn’t be understated. According to UK government research, late payments contribute to the closure of 14,000 businesses each year, and cost the UK economy almost £11 billion annually.

Payments need to be simplified

Something we're trying to do at Klipboard is encourage distribution companies to rethink payment processing.

Instead of adopting more solutions, we’re helping them consolidate payment methods into fewer systems – allowing them to meet customer demands for flexibility, without taking on administrative burden.

A year on from the launch of Klipboard Money, we’ve already seen plenty of examples of how unifying payment methods within a single, integrated workflow transforms payment operations for distribution companies.

If you’d like to explore our full findings from the survey, read the full report here.

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