by Kim Dailey | Jul 26, 2019 | E-Commerce, PCI, Retail Industry News
In 2015 the PCI SSC created the Small Merchant Taskforce, a cross-industry consortium of payment
security experts, merchant groups and small merchant advocates, to create educational material and
suggested next steps to assess risk within a small business environment. The Taskforce drew from
their collective payment security and small merchant expertise to create PCI Data Security Essential
Resources for Small Merchants, a series of resources to help small merchants focus on essential
payment data security practices needed to protect payment data and reduce risk in their business
environment.
As part of that series, PCI SSC created PCI Firewall Basics, a one-page infographic providing
guidance on firewall configuration basics.
by Chandra | Jun 6, 2019 | Gift Cards, Retail Industry News
The average consumer is spending $59 more than the original value of their Gift Card, up $21 from 2017, according to the 2018 Prepaid Consumer Insights Study released by First Data (NYSE: FDC) Despite the set value on a gift card, 72% of customers report spending more than the given amount on their card.
Offering gift cards allows a company to attract new customers, increase brand awareness, improve sales, and reduce fraud. Total retail sales in the United States were projected to amount to 6.03 trillion U.S. dollars in 2022, up from around 5.4 trillion U.S. dollars in 2018. Often, businesses overlook the benefits of integrating gift cards into their companies.
Attracting New Customers
Gift cards are incredibly useful in attracting new customers. They continue to be the number one gift given, therefore introducing new customers to your business. Also, these Gift Cards serve as an incentive to purchase something your customer may not typically seek out.
Increasing Brand Awareness
Providing customers with Gift Cards increases your brand awareness, as well. As gift cards are purchased and given to others for holiday or birthdays, your brand will be introduced to a new audience. 93% of consumers will either buy or receive a gift card; also they are the #1 most requested present during holidays.
Marketing Your Company
Customizing your Gift Card serves as a self-marketing tool. Your logo is displayed in your customer’s wallet and viewed often. Not only will this prompt customers to revisit your store, but it will also hopefully turn them into loyal repeat customers.
Reducing Fraud
By offering Gift Cards to customers, as opposed to paper certificates, you will also be reducing your risk of fraud. Tracking certificates is difficult, and with Gift Card integrations to the new POS Systems, it is now a simple process to monitor. Using a POS System will deter internal theft and quite possibly reduce the likelihood of counterfeit certificates being produced by fraudsters. Gift cards electronically monitored with a POS system allows the merchant to verify the initial transaction. This is also a great way to deal with returns by getting your customer to come back to purchase another product.
With these exploding numbers in the Gift Card industry, what are you going to do to capture your share of this market? We can help uplift your sales today!
by Chandra | May 30, 2019 | News, POS Systems, Service Industry News
Your business security depends on the information that you retain and how you monitor your everyday transactions. There are many ways to do this both with internal measures and technology with the new Point of Sale Systems available today.
Too many times, you (the business owner) are left in the dark as fraud and theft happens right under your nose. Thieves are getting more experienced every day with the various tools they have to violate your business and thus rob you of what you’ve earned. The steps to prevent this are many but vary according to your business type. One of the most common areas of concern, unfortunately, is from your employees.
One suggestion is to find out the what, the where, and the when. What are your current and future employees skills, where have they worked, and when did they work there? A detailed background report is easy to get and inexpensive compared to the potential financial loss.
Another method of prevention is employee training, which can and should include process training and data security procedures. Many times we are so familiar with the processes ourselves that we forget or skim over them when training a new employee. To solve this, have a written “New Employee” checklist and USE IT. Also, use the security awareness policy & training available in your PCI Portal.
App Spotlight:
Do you receive Email or Text alerts from your POS when specific events happen in your store?
When:
- A payment, refund, tip, or discount exceeds a specified amount
- An item or an entire order is deleted, the alert message will indicate whether it’s a PRINTED item/order
- An online (or any other type of) order is paid
- A custom item is added to an order
- The quantity available for an item falls below a specified threshold. (Stock app required)
- An item has expired or is expiring soon (Stock app required)
- Cash in the drawer exceeds a specified amount (Cash Track app required)
- Partial payment is made
- Cash is removed from the drawer
- The cash drawer is opened without a transaction
- An item is deleted from Inventory
- An order stays open too long
Now Available with the Ping Me If app from Clover. It is integrated with all your information in your Clover System.
Prices available on request.
by Chandra | Mar 8, 2019 | Business to Business News, News, POS Systems
NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF A WOMAN
You may be stunned to learn just how much women’s economic power has increased in recent years. Their impact on the consumer economy and influence in decision-making has elevated them to account for 85% of all consumer purchases. Understanding the factors leading to related statistics and how to appeal to this gender is critical to capture their business.
Factors leading to this rise in power are:
- Women earn the majority of bachelor’s degrees (57%), master’s degrees (60%) and doctoral degrees (51%).
- Seventy percent of women with children under 18 are working at jobs and at home and 74.9% of women are the primary shoppers for the household.
- Women control 60%+ of all personal wealth in the U.S.
- Women are responsible for the purchase of over 61% of traditional male products, such as automobiles, home improvement products, and consumer electronics.
- Nearly 40% of U.S. working women earn more than their husbands.
This powerful force will continue to develop and dominate the marketplace for generations to come. Businesses must educate themselves on how to approach women and meet their purchasing needs. Research indicates “91% of women feel that advertisers don’t understand them.”
(For more Statistics on the Purchasing Power of Women, including Millennials, Gen-X women, Empty Nesters, and Boomer Women, see https://girlpowermarketing.com/statistics-purchasing-power-women/.)
How to appeal to this group:
Because women are sandwiched between raising children, working, caring for the home and caregiving for their elderly, their time is limited. Customer service and convenience are paramount to a good relationship and a satisfied shopper.
Training your sales and customer service staff to create a pleasant customer experience and recognize the importance of appealing to this shopper’s buying needs will help to increase sales and develop a repeat customer. To fail to acknowledge their presence or significance in the decision-making process will be a definite detriment to the ultimate sale of your product or service.
(www.forbes.com,2016/12/32, www.forbes.com, 2017/01/31)
More than 11 million businesses are owned by women who employ over 9 million people. Of that, 5.4 million firms are majority-owned by women of color employing over 2 million people.
Make your business run smoothly with online purchasing options, electronic billing, customer financing, and an efficient Point of Sale System. If these options are not available with your current vendor, call us for a free consultation at 866-207-3298 or go to www.cardsystems.com
by Chandra | Mar 7, 2019 | Clover, POS Systems, Restaurant Industry News
We realize that your costs for accepting credit card payments increase regularly. As your source for Point of Sale, we can help by improving other aspects of your service that save you money and make you more profitable IN SPITE OF those rising costs.
There’s been a lot of confusion about surcharging in the past few years. Can you do it? Yes and no. They are specific rules and guidelines for each state regarding Cash Discounting and Surcharging.
For restaurants, the safest and most transparent method is to offer a cash discount for people paying with cash. Advertising the credit price throughout your restaurant with the expectation if they use credit, they pay that price. This should avoid confusion and keep your customers happy with a Cash Discount Program. In addition, you must notify patrons throughout your restaurant with a sign on the door, notification at a POS or cash register, and printed on the receipt. Make sure you are following your local state rules.
Upgrade your Point of Sale System – it will pay for itself so quickly you won’t even think of it as an expense. Our POS System will even automate the Cash Discount feature for you, so you don’t have to think twice about it!
For restaurateurs, the speed and efficiency of ordering alerts to kitchen staff, and payment processing will turn tables much, much faster in dine-in situations and faster yet for takeout. When customers key in their own orders – with descriptive, easy-to-use menu presentation and clearly stated instructions and payment options – it greatly reduces errors and streamlines the notifications along the order-fulfillment process that saves time. You and your customers will love that!
For other businesses, giving customers the ability to choose their items online saves clerks’ time (and prevents complaints about it taking too long to find a clerk!). Checkout is a breeze, and if there’s one thing everyone believes is in short supply today, it’s time.
Another great feature you should look for when choosing a new Point of Sale System is the ability to upload images and price changes instantly. This process should be as easy as putting a photo on Facebook.
So what are you waiting for? Call us today at (239) 549-5055 or check out our website www.cardsystems.com.
by Chandra | Feb 7, 2019 | Equipment, Income Generators, Restaurant Industry News, Retail Industry News, Uncategorized
ATMs still Represent Easy Money for your Business, Restaurant or Store
With the rise of online shopping, brick-and-mortar businesses today need to do everything they can to stay competitive. Sometimes that means using a traditional, tried-and-true method of boosting traffic and earning some passive income.
We’re talking about the ATM machine.
Your store, restaurant or business just might need one.
Why?
Not everyone likes to swipe or dip the chip at a business. Credit and Debit card security concerns are causing some people to stick to the safety of cash. One-third of U.S. consumers (34 percent) say they are making more purchases in store with cash because of data breaches, according to ATM Marketplace.
Avoid card processing fees: Customers who use your ATM and then pay cash in your business save you in credit card processing fees.
Where’s my bank? In a tourist market, in particular, a customer’s regular bank may not be available or may be prohibitively far from his or her local destination. Your customer may want to withdraw money from or check his balance from an ATM before making a card transaction with you or another business.
“Now that I’m here”: Average 7-Eleven ATMs perform about 3,000 transactions per month, according to National Cash, an industry provider. That could be 3,000 times a customer visits your business just to use the ATM, and while there, they notice what else your business offers.
It’s a tax write-off: The ATM is a tangible personal property item which can be expensed. Your tax advisor can tell you about how the cost of an ATM machine can be depreciated or expensed beginning in the tax year that it is placed.
Earn income on surcharges: Talk about passive income! It’s the easiest way to make money on your money.
Operating an ATM is easy and a great way to drive more revenue and foot traffic into your establishment this year! Call or email us today to learn more.
