Thinking about updating your POS system for the holiday rush?
As the Christmas season approaches, many merchants rush to upgrade their point of sale (POS) systems in anticipation of the holiday rush. If you are in this situation, be sure to consider the following tips to maximize sales during this year’s Christmas shopping season.
Follow these important tips:
1. Make sure you are in compliance with EMV: Abbreviation for Europay, MasterCard and Visa: EMV credit cards have already become the standard in payment technology in most parts of the world. But merchants who do not update their terminals meanwhile face a much higher risk of credit card fraud (and losses). Do not take this advice lightly. The holiday season is precisely when fraudulent activity is highest.
2. Expand your online presence: Online shopping continues to increase at an incredible rate, with some reports mentioning increases of 37 percent (year after year) on the weekend just before Christmas. Why bother with Christmas traffic and madness when customers can buy from the comfort of their own homes? Setting up an online store is easier than you think. If you currently accept credit cards at your retail store, you already have a merchant account. And there are countless payment gateways to help you get started.
3. Offer more payment options at your store: If bringing your products online seems to di cult, then invest in more payment options within your physical store. The benefits of this approach include shorter lines, faster purchases and more point of purchase opportunities within your store.
4. Train pre-season staff: Adding new payment options or safer processing technologies makes no sense if your employees don’t understand how to use them correctly. It is essential that you train all your sta on how to:
• Accept EMV credit cards
• Handle contactless payments (NFC)
• Accept mobile credit cards
• Issue returns and cancellations (using all of the above)
Most popular Payment Solutions among merchants:
Mobile credit card processing (using wireless terminals, tablets, and smartphones along with portable credit card readers).
Mobile payments (using contactless payment technology such as near field communication or NFC). Just make sure all additional payment options are EMV ready and compliant.
