The following is a sponsored blog post:
There are so many great reasons why your business should definitely start accepting credit card payments from clients and customers, especially if you have not already done so and you are still relying upon checks and cash from people. These solutions can be inconvenient both to you as a business (because you need to worry about handling cash and depositing it in the bank, or about checks bouncing), and also to your customers. It is the 21st century after all, so everyone wants everything to be swift, easy, and as automated as possible, and often choose to do business only with companies who make it as easy as they can for them. Receiving payments with a credit card is, therefore, one way to attract the most customers. Continue reading to learn more.
You Can Expand Your Business Into the Online Marketplace
In the event that you are selling products or services that you can also sell online, you can expand your business far more easily if you are willing to start accepting credit card payments. This means that you can generate more income from people from around the country, or even from around the globe. Many people prefer paying with their credit cards instead of all other payment methods when shopping online, so the only real way to take advantage of this opportunity for growth is by accepting card payments. Equally, if you already use a platform for online sales that allows people to pay by card, they may be surprised (and not pleasantly), if they find they can’t pay that way if they visit your physical locations.
Many People Don’t Carry a Lot of Cash
From a consumer’s standpoint, carrying cash is a hassle and somewhat dangerous. After all, if they are robbed, they would lose all of their cash, but they could call up all of their credit card issuers to let them know that their cards have been stolen and to stop all charges right away. For these reasons, people tend to prefer to carry only small amounts of cash for incidental expenses like parking meters and picking up a coffee at the office vending machine, and would have to make a trip to the ATM if they wanted to pay cash for anything more expensive. Therefore, if you are dealing with the general public and you want to get more people to come into your store or your place of business to make purchases, you should accept credit card payments because many people simply will not have the cash on hand to pay you otherwise, especially if they are making large purchases.
Sell More and Encourage Customers to Come Back
Speaking of expensive purchases, more consumers are willing to make impulse purchases and spend more money when they have a credit card that they can use at a business that they like. This has been shown in a number of studies into consumer behavior, and seems to be linked to the fact that parting with physical cash adds the obstacle of having to go out to an ATM to replace it, whereas spending more money on a card throws up no such additional effort, as well as the fact that when paying by card, you can buy things you intend to pay for over time rather than with funds you have readily available right now.
With so many great products that can be used to receive credit card payments, many of which are super modern and really simple to use, there is hardly any learning curve that you and your staff will have to deal with to start accepting cards, so you can also make more sales with no real downside to yourselves.
In this way, when a customer walks into your business, you can sell them more without having to worry about if they can afford it. Instead, they can charge it all and have more flexibility to make payments over time. It is no wonder that the biggest retail stores have their own store credit cards that they offer to consumers, complete with perks and discounts, to get them to come in and make more purchases regularly.
With so many great reasons to start accepting credit card payments, it is time to bring your business into the 21st century and start reaping the benefits of doing so. Not only will you be able to give your customers more buying power, but you will also be able to expand your business in myriad ways.
CC’s are all I pretty much use anymore at large retail stores. I love getting the points to use on travel.
Andrew
SHM
Andrew recently posted…How I made $250 in under 30 minutes
Hi Andrew,
Points, cash back or any other hook to get you to use a credit card is OK in my book as long as every month the balance is paid in full. Like you, I almost always use a credit card and rarely have cash in my wallet. Cashless/electronic is definitely the future. Thank you for commenting.
Credit cards are only good to use if you pay off the ENTIRE balance every month, if you cant, then pay cash to control your spending.
Hi Leo,
You bring up a very good point that credit is good when managed properly. To simply max out a card and incur finance charges every month won’t move anyone further along the road towards financial independence. It’s all about control and cash management. Thank you for commenting.