Accepting Credit Cards Generates More Sales
We all know credit cards are convenient for consumers. They help buyers feel safer because they don’t have to carry cash. They’re lighter and more portable than walking around with large wads of money, and when you do need physical cash, you can get it instantly from ATMS all over the world. And cards benefit sellers too.
Sell to Impulse Buyers
Everyone gets tempted to buy goods and services they hadn’t planned on, but these impulses are frozen when you don’t have cash. As a business person, it helps to realize that customers with cards have more money on them than they may realize. Credit cards allow them to buy now and pay later, so they are more likely to give in to that little ‘buy now’ voice in their heads.
Another factor is the more customers use their cards, the more credit they have access to, both in terms of loans and credit limits. In this case, allowing customers to pay by card means customers looking to raise their credit score will make more purchases from your shop than they do from stores that only accept cash, since cash purchases don’t raise their credit scores.
Start a Loyalty Program
In addition to boosting individual credit levels, many credit cards offer special bonuses to consumers. These include discounts, frequent flyer miles, and special features that are unlocked by targeted purchases. You can develop similar program in your store. Invite customers to use their cards and ‘cash in’ their benefits.
Credit card transactions can also give you an additional opportunity to advertise your wares. In physical purchases, you can print promotional material on the back of card receipts. Online, design your website in a way that prompts consumers to sign up for email newsletters after a purchase. All it takes is a freebie and a ‘subscribe now’ button.
You can also encourage customers traveling from overseas and other tourists to purchase your products by letting them pay by card. It saves them the headache of making mental currency conversions or rushing to ATMs for local cash. Credit transactions are often faster than cash, because there’s no change, just a swipe. It reduces buyer fatigue, which leaves more time and energy to shop.
Benefit From Sales Promotions
One of the most frequent places where credit cards are used for purchases is online. In your web design consider using attractive colors, fonts, and design elements to draw your visitor’s eye to targeted areas of your website. These targeted areas could be seasonal sales, timed promotions, or catalogs of slow moving products. It can be easier to highlight them online than offline.
An e-commerce environment is particularly conducive to flash sales. You can run them for extremely brief periods, which creates a sense of urgency and stimulates buyers. You can spread the word about your flash sale via social media, email marketing, and conventional advertising, in addition to word of mouth. Credit cards are processed instantly, so you can make more sales during that brief promotion window.
For more information on accepting credit card payments to generate more sales, or to sign up for a merchant account, please call (888) 924-2743 or go to Charge.com.
