Customer Spotlight – Hive Huddersfield
31st July 2024
Over the last two years consumers have moved further away from cash, and are noticing the benefits of going cashless. More and more people are opting for digital payments resulting in more demand for businesses to offer more flexible ways to pay.
“Increasingly, we are seeing a desire to streamline interactions between consumers and merchants; we want to order meals and buy clothes with the press of a button.”
Nina Etienne, Vice President at SumUp
Benefits of Going Cashless
The Coronavirus pandemic has altered consumer behaviour, we have seen an increase in online shopping, a reduction in cash machine usage and the introduction of increased contactless payment limits, all of which have increased the demand for businesses to be set-up to meet consumer needs.
There are multiple benefits in moving towards a cashless set-up, from creating customer loyalty right down to making better financial decisions about your business. Offering card payments and contactless payments will meet the changing demands of consumers.
If you’re still unsure about getting started with card payments and EPOS systems we’ve put together a list of benefits below.
Connect With Your Customers
Using a cashless system helps to create long-term customer relationships. Yorkshire Payments’ Card Machines and EPOS systems provide insight into purchases and spending habits which can help your business to create personalised experiences to build customer loyalty and encourage engagement with your products and services.
People are using cash less and less, with a global shift toward digital and electronic payments, being set up to allow customers to pay using card or mobile is essential for a more efficient, secure experience. Engaging with customers and providing a unique customer experience increases customer loyalty and brand recognition while also increasing revenue.
Reduce The Spread Of Coronavirus
COVID-19 has accelerated the shift towards going cashless. For hygiene reasons, people have been much more cautious about handling cash and have been opting to use card payments, online payments and contactless payments to further avoid using the key-pad.
“The total value of contactless transactions was £15 billion in September 2021, this is a 30.1% increase on £11.5 billion in September 2020 and 114.6% increase on £7 billion in September 2019.” – UK Finance Card Spending Update Dec 2021
Contactless card payments reduce the fear of spreading the virus to employees and customers through the handling of cash and coins. In retail, offering an efficient payment process will reduce queuing times and congestion which helps reduce the spread of the virus and provides a much more fluid shopping experience.
Customers Are Likely To Spend More
One of the benefits of going cashless is that consumers have been shown to spend more when using their card, than they would if they were carrying cash. The contactless limit reached £100 in October 2021 which has created a much larger spending cap for customers than if they had cash in their pocket. Consumers would rather avoid re-visiting the cash machine and stick to what cash they have on them. Card payments and contactless payments provide consumers with more spending options, flexibility and the ability to spend more.
Using a debit or credit card, smart watch or mobile payment create a frictionless spending experience, it is simple, fast and much more secure.
“…the contactless limit increase will make it easier than ever before for people to pay for their shopping, providing a welcome boost to retail that will protect jobs and drive growth across the country.”
Chancellor Rishi Sunak
More Secure For Your Business
If you integrate your card machine with your EPOS, you can do all your accounting through your payment system by accessing the information about your sales and transactions right in front of you. Businesses can access reports, data, analysis, end of day reports, refunds and the ability to drill down into your business transactions and statistics to allow you to make better decisions about your business. You also have the benefit of having a paper trail for all purchases and transactions, this is particularly useful and important if you are ever in a payment dispute.
Ending cash management saves your team time and eliminates error and fraud. Your staff will no longer have to worry about managing large amounts of cash which can be exposed to security issues and can be time consuming when errors need to be resolved.
Make Informed Decisions About Your Business
An EPOS system integrated with your card machine(s) and accountancy software can provide you with a wealth of insight into your business, sales and statistics. You can analyse sales trends and see what products are selling, compare and contrast data from historical reports so that you can see a clear overview of your business operations, check stock levels and even manage your team. You can create vouchers and promotions and collect customer data to tailor your customer experience and understand your customers’ spending habits.
Get started with card payments and EPOS systems
If your business isn’t set up to accept card payments then you could be losing customers.
New research conducted nationwide by Paymentsense shows that “on average, across the UK, if a business doesn’t accept payment after 4.5 months of their last visit, 53% of consumers said they would leave the shop straight away without buying anything.
And what’s worse, 30% said they would be less likely to return.”
Transitioning to card payments and digital payments has now become essential for businesses, to avoid loss of custom and loss in revenue your business needs to be up to date with consumer demands. The transition doesn’t have to be complicated, you can book a free consultation with Yorkshire Payments and tell us about your current payment set-up and what you require. Our dedicated team will guide you in the right direction and explain your options and our products.
Call 01422 323785 or email info@yorkshirepayments.com to book your free consultation. We’ll be with you every step of the way.
