What Credit Card Processing Equipment do I Need for My Shoe Repair Business?
As skilled artisans, passionate about their craft, small business owners who have set up a shoe repair business occupy a special niche. Traditionally, this sector has been a highly individualized one, with relatively little organizational capability and group support. It offers customized, bespoke, personalized services mainly to local customers. However, with some business strategy inputs, financial support and marketing expertise, it’s a business that holds out great potential for growth, job satisfaction and good revenues.
Risks and Challenges
Over the past few decades, the rise of low-cost shoes manufactured in sync with modern, dynamic fashion trends and design, with minimal investment and low-cost materials, in cheap labor intensive developing countries had seen a decline in the shoe repair business. The industry bears many things in common with the clothing and apparel sector:
- This is a planned obsolescence industry
- Many products are made with intentionally low-quality materials to promote a limited life-span
- It caters to changing fashion trends
- By the end of product life-cycle, customers are ready to adopt the latest trend
- Cost of good quality materials like genuine rubber and leather is escalating almost every year
- Repair businesses must hold the price-line to attract customers
- Every job is unique, preventing automation and cost-effective features
- Shoe repair craftsmen often offer additional services like luggage, purse or handbag repairs, leather product repairs, upholstery restoration
Organizations like the century-old Shoe Service Institute of America (SSIA) help to promote awareness in consumers on the physical, financial and environmental benefits of repairing and reusing footwear.
Credit Card Processing Equipment Required
With credit cards and debit cards becoming the most popular payment methods among Americans, it’s important for your shoe repair business to offer this facility. Otherwise you could find yourself unable to match customer expectations, and handing over the advantage to your competitors. Credit card payment facilities provide legitimacy and trust, promote better sales and revenues, offer safety and versatility and enable better accounting and cash flow.
Once you’ve decided how, where and what kind of payments you plan to accept, it’s important to partner with a reliable, affordable card processing company that caters to small business needs, preferences and budgets.
- For in-store payment acceptance, you need either a counter-top card machine that takes payments at check-out or other fixed point. This type of machine can connect to the Internet via phone or broadband. It can process sales, refunds, and cashbacks, and it may also accept contactless payments and gratuities. It can include several add-ons such as a printer, paper-roll, or Ethernet cable.
- Portable machines are an option that can be moved around. They are ideal when you need to move in a 100 meter radius.
- If you offer on-the-go payment facilities, mobile card machines are available. This can be the ideal solution if you offer home-delivery of repaired shoes or other products. It’s also great if you need to have a stall in a trade-fair, or you have a market-stall on specific days in another location. The machine has a built-in SIM.
For more information on what credit card processing equipment you’ll need for your small shoe repair business, or to sign up for a merchant account, please call (888) 924-2743 or go to Charge.com.