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There is a world of things to consider when you are starting up a new retail business. You have to find the right location in the best neighborhood. You need to figure out what it is you are going to sell and if there is a customer base out there who wants that service. You need to consider loans and economic trends and a million other things.
One thing you may not have time to consider is how you are going to process payments. A lot of new businesses out there just figure they will start out only accepting cash and then, as they grow, they can maybe someday start accepting credit cards and other forms of payment.
The problem with this logic is that if you can’t accept all forms of payment right off the bat, there might not be much of a future for your company at all. In this day and age, people expect you to be able to handle whatever payment they may choose, and if you can’t do it, they will find someone else who will.
With a merchant services account, all of these worries are taken care of for you. A merchant account can help you to accept credit and debit cards, electronic checks, gift and loyalty cards, and much, much more.
Credit Card Processing
The first thing you are going to want to set up through your account provider is the ability to process credit cards. The most common way for retail outlets to handle credit card transactions is through a retail swipe terminal.
You have surely seen a swipe terminal on the counters of most stores you walk into. A lot of account providers will even offer these for free when you sign up. Be sure to read the fine print, though. Some providers will give you free swipe terminals but charge you a huge fee if you decide to cancel your account. So either be 100% sure about the company you sign on with or consider buying the terminal outright.
Once you have the physical terminal, your merchant account will take care of the rest. After your customer swipes his card, the money will go through a complicated network of transactions. These are transaction you don’t have to worry about. Your provider will take care of all that stuff and the money will be deposited into your business account in a few short days.
Another nice thing about these swipe terminals is that they have the lowest fees out there. Studies show that fraud is lowest when people pay in person. In turn, you don’t get killed on the processing fees.
Debit Card Processing
With a retail swipe terminal, you can take care of debit card transactions in much the same way as you would a credit card. The only difference is that the money will be deducted directly from the checking account of your client, rather than them having to pay later. Everything works the same on your end. You will receive the funds once they have been processed.
Check Processing
You may wonder why you would need a merchant account provider to handle your check processing. Can’t you just deposit it yourself? Of course you can. But then you have to wait for it to clear and you run the risk of having the check bounce.
Your merchant account provider can make it so that you can accept checks just like you would accept a credit card. They will guarantee every check so you never have to worry about the dreaded “insufficient funds” notification. This also means you have access to the money even faster.
Checks that you receive will also be turned into electronic documents that will make your record keeping dramatically more convenient. It sure beats a stack of paper stashed somewhere in the back room.
Gift Card Acceptance
It makes perfect sense that you would want to give your customers the best shopping experience that they can have. But you should also give them the opportunity to share that experience with their friends and family.
A great way to do that is to offer gift cards for purchase at your establishment. That way, when someone enjoys the goods and services at your store, they can pass it along to someone they care about.
Gift cards are great because it is practically guaranteeing a new customer. It also shows that one of your existing customers likes your establishment enough to recommend it to someone else.
In a practical financial sense, gift cards are basically a cash advance to your business. It is also a rare occasion that someone will spend the exact amount on their gift card. If they spend under that, it means free money for your business. If they go over, that is even more money for you. It is win-win for everyone involved.
When you are starting up a new business, your focus should be on making your store, your products, and your customer service the best it can be. The last thing you want to have to worry about is how you are going to process payments. Let a merchant account provider take care of that so you can concentrate on what you do best, making your business a success.
