POS Solutions, POS Retail, Ecommerce Merchandising
Article | June 7, 2024
We all know that retail is moving online. E-commerce presents a great sales opportunity for retailers moving their brick-and-mortar shop to the web and brand new online businesses alike.
However, it’s not enough to just create a webshop. The most successful retail webshops are optimized to reflect their products, brand, and customer interests. It’s an important part of the digital sales process.
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POS Solutions, Ecommerce Merchandising
Article | June 7, 2024
“Software-led payments is more than just ecommerce or online invoicing, as many software platforms are starting to offer solutions for card present transactions.”
- Caleb Avery, CEO of Tilled
The omnichannel retail marketplace has been witnessing a surge in recent years. A buyer has a natural tendency to check the details of the products or services on the internet. But a single purchase may involve different channels like apps, websites, store walk-ins, etc. For example, a customer may conduct online research and purchase an item before picking it up from a retail store; or, conversely, he may go to a nearby mall and inspect the product first before purchasing it online.
Therefore, retailing has become increasingly about providing multi-channel or cross-channel experiences to customers. If the merchant misses out on his goods being offered on any channel, it will harm the customer experience (CX).
In such a circumstance, deploying a POS system built for multi-site store networks that takes care of the maintenance of the website and all the locations in the chain simultaneously is a blessing for the retail sector. The point of sale is now an important part of an eCommerce plan for a business and a key part of its ongoing marketing strategy.
Drive Loyalty and Sales Using Your Omnichannel POS
A retailer's point of sale is the hub of every business action, wherein sales, marketing, inventory, customer management and customer service merge. But what many still don't realize is its powerful role in unlocking customer loyalty and higher revenue.
With a modern and adaptable point-of-sale system, lengthy transaction times are minimized and may be boosted while simultaneously processing more consumers, enhancing the customer experience.
Your omnichannel POS should permit the configuration of several payment methods. Customers can choose various payment methods, such as credit cards, digital wallets, PayPal, and cash.
POS data should be utilized in all company decisions in today's society. Additionally, POS data is essential for merchandise planning. For example, if a product is not selling quickly enough, sell-through and sales-by-margin analytics can influence your pricing decisions and allow you to adjust accordingly.
A common misconception about POS is that it is only a point of contact between your clients and your business. However, when its tremendous capabilities are utilized, it becomes a tool that helps you understand your clients, enhance their experience, and guarantee you are prepared to meet their demands.
Importance of Using POS and Ecommerce Integration
Combining CRM and POS software enables staff members to review and update client information instantly. You can develop new sales methods based on customers' interests and previous purchases. The omnichannel point of sale integrates with Tally, Quickbooks, etc. You may export order receipts from all channels directly.
With omnichannel POS, your firm is accessible to customers 24 hours a day. Customers can purchase at one store and receive delivery from another, as well as other choices designed to improve the shopping experience.
A retail eCommerce platform with seamless integration benefits both businesses and customers.
Bottom Line
Innovation in omnichannel retailing and investment in the POS system's digitization helps track and fulfill online, and offline customer needs. It goes without saying that the future of POS and retail are closely intertwined. In the coming years, POS will see a radical shift. Now is the optimal time for laggards to catch up or risk falling behind.
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POS Solutions
Article | February 14, 2024
Running a small business requires a tight eye on profits. More than likely, you will face scenarios in which you incur higher transaction fees you didn’t expect and could have avoided in the first place. Knowing how to navigate processing fees is a key part of your success. Whether you run a single location, a multi-location business, or even a mobile business, avoiding unnecessary fees should be part of the game plan.
Unfortunately, less-than-reputable POS providers are out there, and understanding fees associated with taking payment from customers isn’t easy, but knowing what to look for will help. In this article, we cover fees to keep an eye on and how to save more on your processing fees.
How To Avoid Paying Unnecessary Credit Card Processing Fees
Unfortunately, if you want to accept credit and debit cards as a form of payment in your business, you’re going to experience processing fees. The financial benefits outweigh the transaction costs, but you can still save some money on your POS system and credit card processing.
Negotiate Your Processing Fees
The reason it can be so hard to understand the actual cost of processing fees is that many merchant service providers bury fees in the fine print, and these fees can come back to haunt you. In general, the more upfront a company is about all its charges, the more trustworthy and reliable they are because they have nothing to hide, and typically those rates will be fair. But it also helps to keep an eye on certain aspects of a contract. You can then negotiate them or repackage services to boost your profits.
Transaction Fees: Choose The Right Plan
When setting up your contract, you are given the option of a range of credit card pricing plans. Here are three of the most common pricing models.
Interchange Plus Fee Pricing
This option offers different transaction rates for different card types, bank issuers, methods of transactions, and more. By understanding these fees when processing transactions, you can benefit financially by encouraging the usage of certain cards or procedures that are least costly.
Tiered Pricing
In this scenario, you are charged different rates for different tiers created by your provider. It’s important to evaluate this option carefully because most transactions can fall into a less favorable tier rate.
Flat-fee Structure Pricing
This fee allows for one charge for card-present (CP) transactions and another for card-not-present (CNP) transactions, regardless of card type. This predictable, one-rate pricing model is easy to follow, allowing you to encourage a lower cents-per-transaction option and formulate special pricing deals. However flat-rate can sometimes come out as more expensive than interchange-plus pricing.
How To Avoid Monthly PCI Compliance Charges
A semi-regular fee many merchants run into is not falling in line with PCI Compliant in how they handle payment information. Being PCI compliant means maintaining important standards for customer data protection, and it is taken seriously. Compliance is required for major credit cards such as Visa and Mastercard and is becoming more popular as businesses continue to shift to online sales.
Rule enforcement is most often the responsibility of payment processing companies. Your provider will charge you two fees: a PCI compliance fee – which is once a year – and a PCI non-compliance fee – which occurs every month you have not completed your yearly PCI Compliance audit. Providers are free to charge however much they like for each service, and it can range anywhere between $30-$99 a month. Monthly charges are done both directly or indirectly via higher monthly fees, processing rates, or both. In some cases, the charges begin months after originally signing up with the processors hoping you won’t keep a close eye on all your ongoing processing fees.
As a merchant service provider, we at BNG Point-Of-Sale have a long and reliable history in helping our customers practice PCI Compliance within their business and avoid non-compliance fees.
PCI Compliance is necessary and it does require some work by the processors, so the charges aren’t a hoax, but there are some ways to keep costs down:
You can take on the responsibility of PCI Compliance yourself and forgo the processor’s fee; however, you will be on your own if issues arise. In today’s world of increasing e-commerce, it’s not recommended.
You can prevent the risk of non-compliance fees by working with companies that handle compliance internally. If they (not you) are the source of customer purchasing data, they are automatically in charge of it. Square and PayPal are examples of companies that handle all PCI Compliance, and we often account for these services when onboarding our customers and annually remind them to follow PCI Compliance.
At first glance, it may appear you are not charged by these companies for compliance and non-compliance, but in reality, compliance is still built into the standard fee for service; you just won’t see it specified. Still, you won’t be responsible for non-compliance fees since they own the data and are fully responsible for it.
The amount of compliance required of your business depends on how you take in payment and store customer data. Since processors have numerous clients and prefer not to get specific about it, they may charge a basic fee to cover most issues. This means you could be overpaying, so it’s a good area to evaluate this price of the packaged service vs. when it is priced individually.
There may be companies that don’t charge for compliance, but they are rare and may be suspect. In most cases, any free compliance is covered with higher fees in other areas.
How To Avoid Chargeback Fees
Chargeback fees should be avoided since they are more expensive than traditional transaction fees – especially if you are categorized as a “high risk” client. The first step is to avoid chargebacks in the first place.
Chargebacks can be the result of sales errors by you and your team, a misunderstanding by the customer, or the result of identity theft. Here are some ways to combat each.
Reduce Transaction Errors
Know when to stop a transaction. If an error occurs, push the cancel/hold button inside the transaction. If you are unable to do this, the transaction has already been claimed by the processing company.
Accurately process credits as credits and sales as sales.
Receive an Authorization Approval Code (AAC) before running a transaction.
Before batching your credit card processing at the end of the day, review all charges to verify all charges are correct and not duplicated. Keeping this as an active daily routine can prevent costly mistakes.
Ensure shipped items arrive to the customer to avoid disputes. Select the “ship product to billing address” to alleviate data error.
Keep Records Of Voids
Provide records to your customer of any proof of voids and include companion documentation for any disputes showing details of each purchase.
Decrease Risk Of Theft
If your processor charges more for card-not-present transactions, which most do, it’s because the risk of theft is higher. By requiring a driver’s license and signature and doing manually keyed-in card payments in person rather than over the phone, you lower the risk and enjoy lower charges per transaction.
Try to avoid non-qualified processing (when a card isn’t present or keyed or is missing billing information.) This type of processing is considered a high-risk factor, and processors charge accordingly.
When Possible, Run Orders On Debit Cards
Debit cards are considered a lower risk than credit cards and, in turn, the transaction rates are quite a bit less. This has mostly to do with the fact the purchase is a direct bank-to-bank transaction, but other factors make a difference such as PIN verification and signature requirements, bringing these purchases into a lower risk category. And typically the rates hold. You will still experience rate differences among debit cards related to how the purchases are conducted and who the issuing bank is.
Special incentives such as loyalty programs for debit card users help to easily boost profits.
A Final Thought On Keeping Processing Fees Low
As you can see, several variables can affect your processing rates. From fines to the pricing model your merchant service provider recommends, there’s a lot to consider.
As tempting as it can be to just try and find the cheapest option, be careful going with the lowest bidder. Remember, all POS and payment processing providers have to make some money to cover the costs of support their merchants. If you choose a processor with incredibly low fees, you run the risk of getting what you pay for when it comes to supporting your business.
If you’re not sure if you’re overpaying on your processing fees and want a free analysis, let our team review your current monthly statements and we’ll let you know if you’re getting a good deal or not.
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POS Retail
Article | January 12, 2022
Point of sale (POS) software is a critical corporate tool that has been well-known as an upgraded alternative to the traditional cash register. This system provides your business with management capabilities like loyalty programs and an improved shopping experience. According to a report carried out by Grand View Research, the worldwide POS terminals market is projected to attain nearly $126 billion by 2027. Here is a point of sale trend list that you will benefit from.
You should adopt this point of sale trend. More and more firms are using POS software that allows for quicker checkout time. People tend to have more than a location they wish to drop by. When they visit your store and buy something, they desire to spend as little time as they can, particularly when doing a checkout.
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