Consumer safety is paramount, convenience is king, and store visits are still an experience people want. With these factors in mind, it’s safe to say that contactless payments equal retail success.
Optimizing the payment systems in your stores to include contactless payments can enhance customer experience significantly. When customers enjoy a frictionless check-out, they keep coming back.
For brick-and-mortar retailers, it pays (literally) to invest in innovations that up-level your customers’ health, convenience, and well-being. Keeping customers happy in-store begins and ends with intuitive technology that puts the customer first.
At Storeworks, we position you as a “non-negotiable” product provider for your customers. Contact Storeworks today. Discover how our contactless payments, store automation, and in-store technology solutions can help you reach new levels of customer loyalty. And, with that loyalty, increased sales.
The Contactless Payment Frontier
Though contactless payment technology has existed since the year 2000, it hasn’t gained much of a foothold in the US until relatively recently.
The rest of the world has caught on massively to contactless technology. Outside the US, contactless payments account for 60 percent of consumer transactions. (In one outlying example, Sweden’s contactless payments account for 98 percent of all transactions!)
Fast forward to the COVID-19 pandemic, and you’ll see dramatic changes in contactless payment method usage in the United States.
In the first quarter of 2020, Americans signed up for 80 million contactless payment cards. By April 2020, that number climbed to 190 million, and by the end of 2020, 300 million users may use a contactless payment method when they visit a store. Plus, 70 percent of consumers say they will continue to use contactless payments in the future.
Why Embrace Contactless Payment Systems?
Of course, an obvious benefit to accepting contactless payments is increased health and safety in stores. When customers and staff can process payments without touching cash, credit cards, or payment kiosks, there is less risk of germ and disease transmission in stores.
What are some of the other benefits of contactless payment terminals?
- Speed: paying with a tap or a scan saves time at the check-out, enabling customers to flow through your store more efficiently.
- Flexibility: many types of businesses can integrate contactless payments, including,
- Restaurant and hospitality sectors
- Healthcare industry
- Retail stores of all sizes
- Transportation sectors
- Security: contactless payment is more secure than other payment methods
- Less wear and tear on your terminals – no more touchy card slots
- Can be integrated with your loyalty program for added customer benefit
Deciding Whether to go Contactless
How do you decide if, when, and how to accept contactless payments in your stores? Strategically, of course. Here are a few relevant questions to ask before planning and executing your mobile wallet solutions.
- What existing contactless payment capabilities do we have, and which ones do we need?
- How can we optimize our payment process to add extra benefits to our customers?
- Automatic card selection
- Loyalty point accrual and redemption, or other customer benefits
- 2-factor security authentication
- What do we need in our stores? (Contactless payment only, or hybrid strategies with select check-outs still accepting conventional payment methods like cash, debit cards, or chip cards.)
- How could options like Google Pay and Apple Pay enhance the overall customer experience in our stores?
- Are current terminals NFC-capable?
- Determine integrations and certifications needed
Headache-Free Contactless Payment Implementation
As with any transition or upgrade, it’s wise to extensively beta-test your system before going live on a grand scale. Surprisingly, it may not be the software or hardware that presents the most roll-out potholes, but the human component of a new system.
All details of the contactless transaction should be tested thoroughly to ensure a frictionless customer experience. For instance, the signature prompt must be disabled for the contactless transaction to be truly contactless.
Remember, improved customer experience should guide every detail of any new systems development and rollout. This includes preparing and training staff as you embrace contactless payment solutions.
Empowering your staff to use every resource at hand proficiently improves customer outcomes.
Training all staff on contactless software and POS operations is paramount to a successful implementation.
For example, redeeming loyalty points on a contactless payment terminal should be easily manageable for patrons. Any employee should be able to step in to provide support where needed without the customer touching anything.
Finally, educating your customers on the new system will require time, practice, and perseverance.
If your audience typically pays via conventional methods, start by taking it slow. You must embrace an educational, patient, and compassionate stance as you offer more contactless payment options. You need to ensure a successful and easy payment experience each time they approach the check-out lane.
Clear, branded in-store signage can help guarantee a smooth transition. Customers are reluctant to try contactless payment unless they know in advance it will work for them. Adding details about your expanding payment options to your marketing campaigns creates a positive invitation to visit your stores.
Storeworks Helps you Lead with Contactless Payment Solutions
When you partner with the experienced architect, design, IT, and project management teams at Storeworks, you win with retail customer experience. Our priority is getting to know your business model.
Then, we help you innovate customer experience solutions combined with the technology your audience can’t live without.
We customize our store automation, omnichannel fulfillment, and intelligent warehouse solutions to fit your needs precisely. We have been at the forefront of modern payment architecture for well over a decade so we have the experience to bring your vision to fruition.
Contact Storeworks today, and we’ll be in touch to help you level up. We’re eager to grow your brand loyalty, increase your store visits, and center your stores as THE destination in your sector.