Accept Credit Card Payments to Generate More Sales
What’s a typical shopping process? Some shoppers make a shopping list before they walk into the store, to make sure they don’t forget anything. If it’s a physical store, the store is usually organized to optimize sales. So as they pick the items on their list, they’ll keep seeing extras that scream ‘pick me!’
If they can make it to the cashier without deviating from the list, they are likely to find additional enticing products next to the register. These will usually be small things, such as candy, hand sanitizer, or kids’ toys. These tiny things won’t make much of a dent, so the shopper may grab them without thinking.
The shopper may have entered the store with just enough money for their list, so when the register rings up, they might have to put some items back to stay within their budget. Now, turn around for a second. Take off your customer hat and put on your business hat.
Give your clients more options
This is your store, and the customer is standing there anxious and embarrassed, trying to decide what items they should return. You could resolve this issue in two ways. You could wait for a disappointed customer to decide which items to keep and which ones to put back, while they hold up the line behind them. Or you could take credit cards.
If the customer has a credit card or debit card on them, they can pay for the excess items, and they may even add still more things they hadn’t planned on buying. The same scenario plays out if, for example, a buyer came to your shop looking for a 48 inch TV. But once in your store, they fall in love with a wider model.
They might leave the store to get more money. Which is fine, but once they’ve gone, you reduce the chances of them coming back, especially if they find a TV on offer elsewhere? Option two is that they may try to negotiate payment terms, which would leave you chasing up the payment.
Lucrative and convenient
To avoid all that stress, you could simply accept credit cards. The customer can use their card to cover the payment. Now imagine if ten customers did the same thing, instead of walking out of your store empty-handed or with less merchandise than they wanted to pay for. Your revenue for the day could shoot up significantly.
Credit cards increase spending on a practical level, because they let customers access more disposable cash. But they also enhance spending psychologically, because using credit cards reduces the “pain of paying,” as compared with forking over hard currency. It’s a mental quirk that has been proven through academic studies, and it boosts your business revenue when you accept credit cards.
Another helpful technique is to come up with a loyalty program for your customers. You can link your loyalty program to your customers’ existing credit cards. That way, customers will buy from your regularly.
Loyalty programs don’t just increase sales; they also provide data on customer preferences. This helps you stock more of what your customers like, which helps produce even more sales.
For more information on how to generate more sales by accepting credit card payments, or to sign up for a merchant account, please call (888) 924-2743 or go to Charge.com.
