Using a Cashless Card System for Your Business: The New Normal

The availability of cashless card systems in small business POS software tools has combined with COVID concerns to spark widespread interest. But before you attempt to make this work on your own, take a moment to consider several steps that have been proven to successfully implement a cashless-based strategy in your business. Following these steps, and enlisting the expertise of a valued POS provider, is the smart play that will boost the efficiency of your business operations.

Step 1: Upgrade Your Technical Foundation

As you consider moving towards a cashless-based system in your business, some technical requirements must first be met. For starters, the software used at your POS terminals must be cloud-based and highly secured. Also, mobile payments are considerations as well, which of course leads to discussions regarding the support of additional sales channels and the construction of creating options to support contactless customer interactions.

You are not alone if immediately after reading that you painfully glanced towards your current POS terminal. Before your mind becomes flooded with visions of dollar bills floating into the sky, consider this: advancements in POS technology have lowered the price tag while giving small business owners increased access to powerful business tools. The main concern this leaves you with is the selection of a POS solution provider; one that will work with you as a partner and not just as another customer.

Step 2: Determine Your Payment Terminal of Choice

With a POS partner now providing in-depth guidance for the software requirements of going cashless, you can now turn your focus to the selection of a payment terminal. Although being technically functional cashless card system devices, traditional payment terminals will fall short in a few important areas. These will not support online payment types, nor will they provide access to digital wallets or NEC-based payment types, at least not without significant manual intervention.

A virtual terminal is an ideal choice for use in a cashless card system. As its name indicates, virtual terminals are borderless terminals that allow you to accept payment from anywhere, including any online stores or via web-based invoicing software. Virtual terminals are dynamic in the types of payment that can be accepted, providing you with the ability to add popular digital wallet payment options as well as to accept traditional credit or debit card payments with ease.

Step 3: Make It Easy on Your Customers

The power of modern POS software and the flexibility of virtual terminals will largely have you covered from a customer interaction perspective. But do your new business tools present friendly, easy-to-use points of interaction to your customers, or will they be seen as intimidating and be the cause of lost sales? As well-intentioned as a cashless card system may be, it may have the opposite effect on the customer than initially thought.

Start by communicating with your regular customers the moment your cashless plans go into motion. Not only will they appreciate the respect shown for their input, but will enjoy the option to prepare themselves for the changes to come. Also, expect to be accepting cash for a while after your cashless card system is in place. It will be during this transition period that customers requested fine-tuning can take place to improve their buy-in and to help them gain confidence in a cashless business model.

Step 4: Manage Sales Data for Predictive Reporting

Using a cashless card system in your business will offer one more opportunity to change the way you look at your data. The same POS technology you are now using to support a cashless card system will also give you innovative ways to gather and use valuable sales data. The ability to get more out of sales data comes from two primary factors: 

Multiple sources of information coming into your POS system The highly accurate nature of cashless sales transactions.

The highly accurate nature of data obtained from virtual terminals will offer you a multitude of reporting options. Predictive sales and inventory reports will present you with the insights needed to take a proactive approach towards fine-tuning the products and services you offer. The increased flow of information from multiple sources will not be a problem thanks to the cloud and will give you instant access to any information you need.

Building a Cashless Card System Requires Strong Fundamentals

Choosing to use a cashless card system in your business is one that presents you with new business opportunities through the ability to reach more customers. In addition to employing virtual terminals to accept payment from almost any source, you gain additional point of sale information that can be mined and used to construct a more powerful customer experience using the information they provide to serve them.

Stepping forward into a new norm can be a daunting task. But with an experienced partner such as talech at your side, developing a cashless strategy becomes easier. Our expertise in POS technology and small business operations is at your disposal so that you can create a perfect representation of your vision in your business model. Reach out to us today to sign up for a demo and to learn more about how talech can be your valued POS partner.