Payment methods: Importance of Payment Options for Customers

Payment methods: Importance of Payment Options for Customers. Diversity of payment methods is increasingly being demanded by the retail market.

Diversifying payment options in a small or medium-sized business can be an additional business strategy to face competition from larger companies in the market.

Undoubtedly, large enterprises already offer customers the maximum number of options to make payments.

Therefore, let’s talk about improving customer service by expanding payment options.

Keep reading to discover how to offer a greater variety of options and, at the same time, optimise the financial management of your business!

The importance of offering variety to the consumer

Payment methods: The Importance of the have a variety of payment options for customers.

Having a variety of payment options is one simple method that can be used when promoting customer retention. In the past, customers often had just two payment options – cash or credit card.

With the advent of advanced payment technology, business owners can now offer payment options for customers in a faster and safer way than ever before.

Customers expect to have choices nowadays, so it is no longer an option to have just cash or credit card choices available.

Businesses that do not offer a variety of payment options for customers are sure to feel the impact of decreased sales and compromise the company’s reputation.

Can you imagine a customer choosing several items in the store, but when they approach the cashier they are told that only cash is accepted, and the customer only has their card or smartphone to pay with? This customer will leave the store without the products, embarrassed because of the situation, frustrated and disappointed.

What are the payment options your business should have?

So, what are the payment options that a store should be offering to their customers?

Current payment methods include:

• Cash – often used for smaller value transactions, such as coffee, ice cream, etc. People are using cash less and less often these days for a variety of reasons, including safety and security, hygiene, and convenience. For a business, cash payments can be harder to trace which could cause problems during audits.
• Cheque – This payment method is falling into disuse because it is costly and slow. It takes time to write a cheque, and for the payment to clear. Another disadvantage is that cheques are more open to fraud through forgery.
• Debit cards – A debit card payment deducts money directly from a person’s current account to pay for a purchase. Debit cards eliminate the need to carry cash or physical cheques, and a person can only spend what they have available (or within an overdraft limit agreed with their bank).
• Credit cards –  A credit card is issued by a financial company that allows cardholders to borrow funds to pay for goods and services.
• Online bank transfer –  For larger pre-pay purchases, or customers clearing their credit account, it’s a good idea to have a note of your BIC and IBAN numbers handy to give them, so you can accept hassle-free online payments from your customers, direct to your bank account.
• Contactless payments – These payments are usually made by smartphone or smartwatch, using a service like Google Pay or Apple Pay. Contactless is a secure method for purchasing using a debit, credit, or smartcard that is connected to an individual’s smart device and enabled with radio frequency identification (RFID) or near-field communication (NFC) technology, enabling customers to tap their device and pay instantly.
• Online ‘wallets’ – and fintech such as PayPal or Revolut are perhaps the most flexible and easy modes of instant payment for money transfer and online shopping. Companies sometimes charge a fee that comes with such payments to their customers, but they provide purchase and payment back up, offering ease of transaction, additional security, and global reach within their payment options. In addition, other options such as cryptocurrency, e.g. Bitcoin, are often available as currency options for their customers.

Advantages 

Offering modern options for your customer to pay can benefit your business, making transactions faster and more flexible. You can also reduce wait time and queues, eliminate customer hassle, and make your company appear more attractive, modern, and connected with trends.

More choice also means a higher rate of completed payments, which translates into higher revenues for your company.

One last tip: Pay attention to your customers’ buying habits. This will give you a good idea of where payment trends are headed, so you follow the directions and keep updated with what your customers want.

Who are we?

Retail Solutions is a market-leading EPOS provider with over 25 years of business experience. Our leading sectors are convenience stores, supermarkets, forecourts, and pharmacies.

We are dedicated to providing your store with the most up-to-date and reliable point of sale hardware, along with software management tools to help you manage your business effectively.

To find out more about what we do, get in touch to chat with one of our knowledgeable consultants:

Contact us!

About the author:

Juliane Camozzato is a Marketing Executive at Retail Solutions. You can follow her on LinkedIn!