It’s hard to not think of the point of sale as a place to pay. But with advanced functionality and processing power, today’s payment devices can deliver more sales opportunities for retailers – particularly at busy seasonal times like the holidays.
Additionally, here in the UK, retailers can choose from a host of value-added options that can be implemented as part of our secure managed ‘payments as a service’ platform. Here are six of our hottest suggestions to get retailers thinking out of the box during the holiday season:
- Cut holiday shopping queues with contactless/NFC
Contactless payments utilises NFC technology to allow customers to pay for items less than £20 by simply tapping their contactless enabled credit card onto a contactless reader, without the need to enter a PIN number.The main benefit for you, the retailer, is that the fast transaction times reduce customer queue times, which is ideal for stores that experience busy periods during the Holiday season such as lunch times and during extended opening hours.
- Keep them coming back with gift and loyalty
Gift and loyalty cards are a great way of generating repeat business. While the initial purchase has been made, you have the opportunity to up-sell to the customer when they come back in-store to redeem their gift card.Loyalty cards let you see what your customer’s interests are, and helps you build strategies using this knowledge in order to encourage repeat business and create a better shopping experience.
- Help them multi-task with mobile phone top-up
By enabling customers to purchase credit for their mobile phones, participating merchants have an edge over their competitors. Customers may choose to shop within your store above a competitor if it means they can top up their phone credit at the same time. Even if the customer only intends to purchase phone credit, the increased footfall provides yet another opportunity for you to up-sell while the customer is in store.
- Reach out with mobile vouchers
Mobile vouchers can be sent directly to the customer via SMS messaging, with a unique code they can redeem in store. Since the offer is sent to the individual rather than mass-market, mobile vouchers are very effective for specifically targeting customers with promotions/discounts. These offers can also be timed in conjunction with specific marketing campaigns or simply during peak times; for example, offering discounts on sandwiches just before the lunch time.
- Attract visitors with Tax Free Shopping
Tax Free Shopping allows merchants to take advantage of the tourist trade by offering foreign visitors the opportunity to buy goods without VAT. The customer buys the goods, and then when returning home they can claim back the VAT on their purchases.
- Exploit seasonal opportunities with Dynamic Currency Conversion
Another way merchants can encourage business from the tourist trade is by offering Dynamic Currency Conversion, which enables foreign visitors to pay for goods in their own currency when paying by credit or debit card. This simplifies the customer experience as there is no need for the customer to calculate the exchange rate when making purchases.
These value-added services can be deployed in the UK via our PAYware Ocius managed payments platform for easy roll-out. With any one of them, merchants can create a competitive advantage on the high street, thus increasing footfall, opportunities to upsell, and ultimately revenue.
www.verifone.co.uk
Ok, so what happens when the pucrahse is over a315? I think he will slow down a bit! There are a number of other problematic use cases. People aren’t shouting about those just now. Either way it is an excellent innovation that will change secure wireless interactions in a big way and probably make life easier!