How holiday retail businesses can cater to their customers by offering seamless card payments
Tips / 19.12.2019
Are you the business owner of a retail shop that’s seasonal and only caters to customers during the holiday season?
Perhaps your products depend on the winter season, such as the sale of Christmas trees or holiday decorations? This year, naturally, you might be looking for ways to increase your holiday sales.
But how can you boost your sales figures during these special times? This blog post will give you the answers.
Why your retail business needs contactless payments
Let’s face it – the main objective of retailers around the holiday rush is to win more customers than in previous years. These can be loyal customers, last-minute shoppers browsing for gift ideas or new customers.
The best way to achieve this is to get your brick and mortar store ready for the holiday shopping season or prepare your digital store for online purchases before the holiday season starts.
Some of the ways to achieve your best performance during the holidays are to attract customers in different ways.
These include the following:
- Holiday promotions;
- Exceptional customer service;
- Answering questions in a timely manner;
- Ensuring you have enough stock for the busiest times of the year.
And while these ways to prepare for holiday shoppers and more customer engagement are effective, the most guaranteed way to land sales is to accept contactless payments.
Here are some of the main reasons why many retailers support contactless payments, especially around the holidays.
Seamless payment via a mobile device
Without a doubt, the holiday season is the busiest time of the year for retailers. For a small business, handling cash payments can create significant discomforts, delays, and inability to carry out the payment process smoothly.
Thanks to contactless payment solutions, consumers can quickly pay using the convenience of their mobile device via mobile wallets, for instance.
Completed purchases, even if there is no sufficient cash at hand
Oftentimes, holiday purchases turn out to be a last-minute decision. Imagine that a shopper is browsing through a shopping centre and unexpectedly spots the perfect gift for a loved one.
However, they are not carrying cash as this situation wasn’t planned. Without contactless payment options at your store, they’ll be unable to purchase the item, meaning lost sales for you as a business.
Low-risk payment option
Contactless payments are considered a significantly secure option when compared to other alternatives.
Via this payment solution, sensitive payment information is safely encrypted. As a result, it cannot be accessed by unauthorised parties, preventing data theft and misuse,
A solution that provides high levels of hygiene during busy times
Contactless payments ensure that there is minimal contact during the payment process.
This is especially important around the holiday season as it often overlaps with flu season. Eliminating the need for old and new employees to touch cash and for customers to come into direct contact with store surfaces at checkout, you can dramatically reduce the chances of contamination and disease spread.
Don’t miss out on clients
One of the most important parts of owning an e-commerce business or online store is to grab your customer’s attention and keep it in order to prevent lost sales.
But many businesses – whether seasonal or not – aren’t prepared to meet their customers’ payment needs. This is because of increased reliance on cash sales.
However, the phrase ‘cash is king’ is no longer applicable to a clientele which is increasingly seeking to make payments with cards, as this has not only become the norm in our society but also because it has become more convenient to do so.
That’s why owning your very own payment machine is vital for your online sales, no matter whether we’re talking about large retail businesses or small business owners.
POS devices for your retail store
An attractive feature of the myPOS offering is its powerful and affordable retail POS. The devices – whether Smart or traditional – come complete with a wide variety of functions and solutions that make payment acceptance seamless.
MO/TO Virtual Terminal
Apart from mobile card machines, myPOS also offers MO/TO payments, which are a payment method that’s made with a debit or credit card via phone or mail in order to place an order or make a purchase.
They are usually performed manually when the merchant enters the customer’s card details (PAN and expiry date) into a Virtual Terminal.
The success story of a unique chocolate retailer
– Learn what makes Tuscani Cioccolato special
– Check out their views on the industry
– Understand why myPOS benefits them
PayLinks
Your holiday retail business doesn’t need to have an online shop or even a webpage to accept payments online.
Simply generate a payment link with a description, currency, and expiry date. You can then use it on social media, in an email, or via SMS when sending an offer or invoice to your customers.
PayButtons
Lastly, myPOS PayButtons are another easy solution that allows your customers to check out with ease.
Just set the amount, the size of the button and the details you would like to collect, copy the generated HTML code and paste it in your website editor.
Cater to your customers’ payment needs
If you’re a retailer that caters to a seasonal clientele, then it’s time to take your business to the next level by offering your customers card and online payment solutions that work for them.
Catering to an increasingly cashless clientele is becoming ever more important in our digitalised world. Let myPOS help you close that sale and allow your business to flourish this season.