Republished from Intuit Small Business Blog
From expanding sales to becoming more sustainable, here are seven reasons why mobile payment technology should be the small business owner’s new best friend:
1) It’s going to be ubiquitous – Mobile payments are on the rise, so you might as well get in on the action on the way up. According to Aite Group, a research and advisory firm on business, technology, and regulatory issues, mobile bill payments will climb in the U.S. to $214 billion in 2015, up from $16 billion in 2010. Another study, conducted by Telecoms Market Research, reports there were 81.3 million worldwide mobile payment users in 2009, with a forecasted growth to nearly 500 million by the end of 2014.
2) It’ll help you expand your sales channels – Implementing mobile payments in your business lets you meet customers where they are, increasing your customer base. You’ll be able to sell at trade shows, from a kiosk, or the back of a truck, knowing that you can accept on-the-go payments. Mobile payments let small business owners of all kinds — from plumbers to photographers to PC repair technicians — take payments in person, at a customer’s home, or instantly over the phone.
3) It’ll give you more flexibility – Before m-commerce became a reality, on-the-road business owners could only accept cash or checks. If they accepted credit cards, they’d have to write down the credit card number and take it back to the office for processing. Not only was that a hassle, but it opened up the risk of the credit card number getting lost and ending up in the wrong hands. If your business involves performing duties on your customer’s premises, you’ll be able to accept payment on the spot using mobile payments, and you’ll never have to say, “Sorry, we don’t accept credit cards,” and lose the sale. Customers will appreciate hassle-free transactions too, which will be another motivator for them to purchase.
4) It’ll help you take advantage of social shopping – Group deal sites like Groupon and Living Social rely on peer recommendations and peer pressure to get more products and services sold. With more and more people connecting with family, friends, and colleagues and spreading the word about their product purchases, impulse purchases and group buying influences are becoming more powerful than ever. By adding a mobile payment option, small businesses can more easily and quickly capitalize on peer recommendations.
5) It’ll help you take advantage of impulse purchases – According to a Dun and Bradstreet article, businesses stand to forfeit up to 80 percent of customer impulse purchases if they don’t accept credit cards. With the ease of mobile payments and the low-cost of impulse purchases, mobile payments and small-ticket impulse purchases are a match made in heaven. Mobile payments ensure your customers can purchase your product the “instant” they want to.
6) It’s faster – Since there’s no waiting for a paper receipt to print out, purchase transactions will be quicker. You’ll be able to move customers through the line more quickly, which will improve your customers’ shopping experience — and hopefully their loyalty to you.
7) It’s eco-friendly – Processing payments using your iPhone or other mobile technology means that everything is paperless. There’s no more invoicing to do and no checks to process. Customers no longer receive paper receipts; instead a transaction receipt is sent through email. Proof of sales is maintained virtually, and can be viewed anytime.
Republished from Intuit Small Business Blog
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