Let’s take a moment to talk about payment methods and how they can affect your business. What payment methods do you currently accept? Chances are, you’re accepting at least credit, debit, and cash; but are you aware of all the other payment methods out there today? There are dozens of methods available for exchanging currency, and some of those methods have very dedicated users.
If you’re not accepting those payment methods, you could be setting your business up for problems in the future. The way we pay for goods and services is slowly shifting away from physical cash and even cards and moving toward more digitalized methods. Are you up to date?
Here’s how accepting more payment methods improves your customer service.
The More, The Merrier
Essentially, accepting more payment methods just makes your business that much more versatile. Let’s say you’re a retail store that likes to go to trade shows or festivals with your wares. You could be severely limited in your sales if you’re not accepting a wide variety of payment methods, causing you to miss out on some important opportunities. You might be in an area or in a crowd that uses mostly Apple or Android Pay. If you can’t process those payments, you’re losing potential customers.
This goes for in-store operations as well. Imagine a customer heard about how great your products were from a close friend and comes to check them out. They load up a basket with over $300 worth of stuff; you’ve really impressed them! The only snag is that when they go to check out, they didn’t bring their cash, and you don’t accept Apple Pay. You just lost a sale.
There will always be new and improved ways to pay, and keeping up with them can certainly be a challenge. That’s why many businesses are switching to a POS system for retail instead of traditional cash tills.
Why POS Systems?
There’s a good chance your credit card terminal can’t accept all those new and improved payment methods, but a POS system certainly can! POS systems are versatile and reliable, and they’re continuously updated with more payment methods so you’ve never left behind the curve.
POS systems can process your payments, track your inventory, and even help improve your customer service by expediting checkouts and collecting customer data. Never be left in the dark again about how much money you’ve made or how many customers passed through your doors.
Attracting New Customers
Just as you might lose a potential customer due to payment methods, you can also gain an entirely new audience by accepting new payment methods. Imagine the same scenario; a customer suggests your brand to a friend, they fill up their basket, and you do accept Apple Pay. Now you’ve not only impressed them with your products, but the fact that you have Apple Pay means they’ll be coming back, and likely suggesting your store to more people.
Just like that, you’ve gained five new customers from one referral, and you can process their payment methods. That’s a great first impression to make on your new customers, and you’re drastically improving the chances that they’ll remain loyal after the initial transaction.
You’ll Be Set Up For The Future
The future arrives, whether we want it to or not. When it comes to running a business, you can’t afford to be left behind. When things change, the most successful businesses evolve and move into the future with new tools and methods for pleasing the customers.
With a POS system, you’ll be set up for the coming future with payment processing tools and other features to help you run and manage your business more effectively. There’s no price on peace of mind, or so they say; so having the right tools today can bring you peace of mind later one.
Don’t underestimate the power of accepting new payment methods. As we move further away from cash, customers will expect businesses to be able to process new payment methods like online or touchless payments. If you’re falling below that standard, you can bet the competition is going to take advantage of that gap in your customer service.
The Take-Away
Payment processing has changed much in the last few decades, and we can expect many more changes in the coming future. It’s better to be prepared for these coming changes and embrace them than to fight them or wait until the last minute. Try a demo version of POS software today and you’ll see what kind of difference it can make in your business.
