Everybody’s talking about the future of payments, but the problem is, the future is here, and a large portion of people aren’t acknowledging it. The technology to pay for things with your mobile phone is convenient, secure—and not being used by a majority of consumers. If you’re a retailer who hasn’t yet implemented credit card processing for your small business, then you know your first step. But even if you have a swank new integrated payment system with all the bells and whistles, what can be done to better enable people to use it?
A number of stake holders argue that mobile payment’s relatively slow adoption rate isn’t due to any intrinsic default in what the payment systems are offering; would-be users are yet to see the value proposition in switching over to paying with mobile. Rather than blaming Apple and Samsung pay, retailers can actually do their part in creating value and meaning to this new payment system.
How, you ask? By looking at new technology as a tool that empowers you to do more, specifically, offer your customers better features and service. Here, Starbucks is the real power player. It’s successful initiative to get people to order and pay through their mobile app has seen them pushing way ahead of the national curve. In 1,200 of its locations, mobile order and payment claims about 20% of its order volume. Compare this to the 7% adoption figure for national retailers as a whole. It also shows how the streamlining in one part of the order chain can create problems further downstream. Starbucks acknowledges and is looking for solutions on what to do with the significant backup that can happen at peak times at the point of handoff.
Even if you don’t have Starbucks power for creating your own app and marketing it, you can still start somewhere. It can be as simple as posting a sign near the point of sale that says you accept mobile payments, and maybe even shows the benefits of trying it. This is just the beginning. There are also a variety of promotional options for retailers that could make sense for your business.
Yes. It’s faster, more secure, and makes your business look good. Is it costing you money not to have your customers adopt mobile payments? Maybe not. But in the long run, you’ll see that you’re fighting the flow of progress. Being able to offer the best to your customers sooner rather than later can only help you.
It can be debated how fast we’re going, but one thing we can basically agree on is that we’re moving forward toward a cashless society. If you’re wondering what to do next, be sure that you’re using the best possible technology for credit card processing for small business. Then you can begin to get the most out of your payment setup with mobile payments.