Self-Checkout Systems Reduce Costs

Want to Reduce your Overhead Costs? Use Self-Checkout Systems to Accept Credit Card Payments. We all know it costs money to run a business. You have to pay your staff, buy raw materials, rent your premises, and keep up with your taxes. But did you know receiving payments can cost money? Depending on the payment method you select, you could lose money through:

• Banking charges
• Foreign exchange rates
• Processing fees
• Check clearance
• Expensive cash safes
• Armored transit vehicles

The safest way to pay

Credit cards have long been accepted as the safest way to pay for goods and services. They reduce the risk of walking around with large sums of cash. They also have security features and verification patterns that minimize fraud and theft. Still, credit card payments have built-in costs. You have to pay for card processing, and there’s a risk of chargeback fees.

In addition, processing credit cards in a retail location typically requires both personnel and hardware. If you are accepting cards in-person, you typically need cashiers to handle the cards and the checkout process, and with the rising cost of living and wages, those cashiers cost you a lot of money over time. All of this adds to your overhead. In fact, labor costs are often the single highest expense of a business.  But what if you could eliminate those costs completely? You can, if you install a self-service checkout system or kiosk with built-in credit card terminal in your store.

Speed up your card transactions

If you have a website, instead of having your customers call your company to complete a sale, you can install the payment gateway as a feature of your online store. Customers can log on and use your checkout pages to buy items, then request delivery to their doors. They payment gateway will automatically transmit each credit card transaction to the credit card banks.  Option B is to install self-service kiosks in your retail shop. Customers can check out, provide payment information, and leave.

This latter option increases efficiency while lowering wage demands. It can boost sales because customers feel autonomous and independent. They don’t feel rushed in the cashier’s line or patronized by sales staff. They can take their time, pick what they want, and pay at their convenience. And if they get stuck, they can always ask for help.

Guaranteed inbuilt security

All self-check-out kiosks use software and hardware that is backed by a merchant processor. These merchant processors use high levels of encryption to secure payment data. Some go as far as installing military-grade security codes. These processors are compliant with the standards of PCI, ensuring your customers that their cards are safe.

Another benefit of self-checkout systems is that they speed up transactions. This may seem counter-intuitive, since individual customers will checkout more slowly than a seasoned cashier would. But if you have multiple checkout lanes and a staff member on hand to assist, customers will often spend less time waiting to checkout.

Self-service checkout for social proof

Since customers are processing their own purchase, their experience becomes more interactive. They are no longer passive shoppers. They are consciously engaged in their in-store experience. It’s a novel, exciting adventure that they may share with friends, which boosts your business. You’re might even get some social media coverage out of it.

For more information on reducing overhead costs, or to sign up for a merchant account, please call (888) 924-2743 or go to Charge.com.