If it seems like everyone pays with plastic these days, there’s a good reason. In a 2014 payments study, 88% of consumers preferred credit and debit cards for their purchases. Cash is definitely no longer king! What does this mean for your business? It’s more important than ever to provide your customers with the ability to use their cards easily and securely wherever they’d like to purchase your products and/or services. In addition to in your physical location, this means online and remotely. Luckily, card processing technology has kept up with the growth of card usage and it’s simpler than ever to accept payments quickly and safely most anywhere.
You likely already accept cards in-store via your point of sale system, but do you have the latest technology? For instance, are you equipped to quickly process the new EMV cards with security chips? Can you accept mobile wallets like Apple and Android pay? Are you able to offer loyalty and rewards programs and gather valuable consumer insights to help with your marketing activities? And most important, are your transactions processed quickly and easily so your customers don’t have to wait.
If you aren’t selling online, you should definitely consider it. According to Forrester Research, the online retail sales volume for the U.S. is predicted to grow to $370 billion in 2017. Forrester also reports that the number of people shopping online in the U.S. will grow to 58% in 2016. What’s more, 72% of Millennials research and shop their options online before going to a store. You can add online credit and debit card acceptance easily and most important, with very secure transactions so your customers can be sure there data is safe. As the statistics show, online sales are growing rapidly and will be a big contributor to most companies’ sales.
In addition, you can now accept payments anywhere you find your customer – at trade shows, events, pop-up stores or even away from the checkout counter in your store. Using a small card reader, your mobile device can service as a portable point of sale system, including all the ease of use and security of your in-store process. This allows you to reach out to your customers in ways never before possible.
More and more, consumers are expecting to be able to make purchases using their credit and debit cards in a variety of ways. It is critical that a small business meets those expectations. Technology now allows you to accept cards easily not only at your store, but online and on your mobile device wherever you want. Advanced card processing systems also integrate the information you gather from the various sales gateways so that accounting and gathering customer data is simple and seamless. Most important, new card processing technology is making these transactions more secure than ever. Take a look at your payment options and make sure your customers are able to make purchases from you wherever they’d like.
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