How to Offer Convenient Payment Options for Your Customers

Every business should strive to offer convenient payment methods for their customers. Doing so will help you attract clients and retain them. You will notice that you are paid on time more often, resulting in less wasted time chasing overdue payments. You will also find yourself with more clients if you offer the payment methods they want, as this gives them an incentive to choose you over the competition. 

Offering the payment methods that your customers want will help you close more sales.  One scary stat that may light a fire is that 1 in 4 consumers will abandon a transaction if the merchant does not accept their preferred payment method.

The rise of contactless payments

Contactless payments have been growing in recent years, thanks to advancing technology. With the rise of methods like Apple Pay and Google Pay, you can see this. They rely on near-field communication (NFC) technology to take payment when a customer taps their phone to an NFC-enabled device. The customer’s payment information is already loaded on the phone and is passed securely to the receiving device without the customer pulling out their wallet.

While the fact that the technology was available already meant these options have gradually been growing in popularity, the pandemic accelerated the trend. 

But health and safety reasons are far from the only factor affecting the popularity of contactless payments. They are also popular for their convenience, speed, and security. No one else has to handle a customer’s card or even see it.

While payments on mobile devices like Apple Pay are one example of contactless payments, they are not the only ones. There are also contactless credit and debit cards that can be tapped to pay for smaller transactions. This type of credit or debit card will typically have a transaction limit. 

How retailers can consolidate their use of mobile payments

One of the barriers to adopting convenient payments is that retailers sometimes need to have multiple systems to offer various payment methods. Or they may need to upgrade their current systems to support some of the newer options.

The best method of consolidating mobile payments is to choose a platform that will offer multiple options. Podium, for example, offers mobile payment choices, such as Apple Pay and Google Pay. At the same time, it also supports the other payment methods your customers may want to use, such as credit cards or ACH payments. 

The culture of convenience

When it comes to contactless payments and other convenient payments, the bottom line is that you want to appeal to the culture of convenience. This refers to customers’ appreciation when we make things easier. They want shopping, reaching your support team, and paying all to be as quick and easy as possible. 

You play into this culture by offering convenient payments, which lets you close more sales. After all, customers want that convenience, and when you provide what customers want, they are more likely to buy from you. 

The danger of disparate mobile payments

While you want to offer more payment methods, you also have to be careful. Depending on how you go about doing it, you may create more work for yourself and lose out on the benefits.

For example, if you offer disparate mobile payments that you can’t manage all in one place, you may find yourself tracking transactions across multiple systems. This can take more time and be more complicated. It also increases the risk of human error. Having disparate payment methods can also mean receiving funds at different times.

Even the transactions themselves may take longer, especially if each payment method requires different equipment to process. In that case, you would also have to spend more money on equipment to process transactions. It will also be time-consuming to train employees to use these new systems. This can also take up excess room by your cash register. 

There is also the fact that you would have to vet each payment type before offering it. For example, you would have to consider processing fees, consumer demand, and security for each. This last point is significant due to concerns about online fraud.

Luckily, you can avoid this issue by choosing a system that lets you access multiple payment methods in a single program. This will give you all the benefits of offering more payment methods without adding additional systems to bog down your staff or front desk. A consolidated experience also means you get paid faster and consistently, and you’ll improve the customer experience.

How to offer convenient payment options step-by-step

You understand the importance of offering convenient payments, but how do you go about doing so?

Step 1: Research what your customers want

Convenience is king when thinking of your customers. It’s essential to make sure you offer what they want. If your customers want to pay with a credit card, make sure you take a credit card. If they’re going to finance, look into ways to offer financing via a third party for those high ticket items.

Think about your target audience and how they usually pay. You may even want to send out a survey asking which current methods they prefer and what other methods they would like to see in the future. One of the biggest mistakes you can make is assuming what methods your customer wants to use to pay. By asking them, you can avoid wasting money on fees for methods your business does not need to offer. 

Step 2: Find a payment solution that offers it

Once you know what types of payment methods your customers are most interested in, it is time to figure out how you can offer them. This will be done via a payment solution of some sort, such as Podium Payments. Systems like Podium that offer multiple methods, from card readers to SMS payments, tend to be the most valuable because they help consolidate various platforms into one.

Step 3: Set up your solution

At this point, all you have to do is work with your chosen payment solution to set up your account and start offering the payment methods your customers want.

Step 4: Advertise your payment methods

While you could technically skip this step, making sure that current and potential customers know about your convenient methods of paying will drive sales. At the very least, put a notice in your physical location and on your website. Let subscribers know via text or email about new payment methods. You can even incorporate it into your sales strategy. This may be especially important if you’re making a big jump, like going from only accepting cash or check to taking credit cards or introducing a text-to-pay solution.

The power of convenient payments

When it comes down to it, offering convenient payment methods gives your business a long list of advantages. There are also a few minor caveats to be aware of. That being said, most companies will find that the pros far outweigh the cons. 

Pros

• You offer the payment methods that customers want.
• You can better attract new customers.
• You can better retain new customers.
• You have fewer payment systems to deal with.
• You get paid more quickly.
• You spend less time chasing payments or charging late fees. 
• It is easier to close sales. 
• You can use it in your advertising to appeal to prospects. 
• The right software makes it easy to accept payments. 

Cons

• Not all POS systems will accept contactless payments. You may need to upgrade your payment terminal. 
• You will have to remember the processing times and fees for each payment method you accept. 

Fixing a payment system you didn’t know was broken

If your business is already established, you may not realize that your payment system was broken. But if you haven’t updated it in a few years, it likely has some flaws. Maybe you can’t currently accept all of the payment methods customers want. Or perhaps they have to visit you in person to pay.

Fixing the system is as simple as replacing it with one that does everything you and your customers need. 

Conclusion: Accepting contactless payments

Accepting contactless payments will offer a high level of convenience to your customers when it comes down to it. This will drive more sales and improve the customer experience.

The simplest way to start accepting contactless payments is via Podium, which supports Google Pay and Apple Pay, in addition to bank transfers, credit cards, and more.