The Business Buzz

The term “retail” encompasses a broad sector of the consumer-facing economy. The lifeblood of a retail business is direct consumer interaction. And a big part of that interaction is the point of sale. Payment solutions may not initially seem as crucial as marketing campaigns or store layouts. However, a deeper dive into business processes reveals that payment processing is a core functionality of the retail world.

It’s far more than just collecting debit and credit card payments. The point of sale is a touchstone moment where the consumer interacts directly with your business. A sale that goes smoothly cements a positive customer experience. In-person, that means leveraging the latest contactless technologies like mobile payments. Online, that means safe, secure, and easy-to-use payment gateways.

Much has changed since the days when merchants took an imprint of credit card numbers on carbon copy paper. Mastercard and Visa have experimented with “face recognition” checkouts, while Amazon has experimented with staffless stores. While these inventions represent the outer reaches of retail payment processing tech, it behooves every retailer to be aware of the trends and at least stay on par with them.

As Mastercard and Visa phase magnetic strips out of existence, and more and more consumers ditch their wallets entirely—opting for mobile wallets—retailers must stay abreast of the hardware and software needed to collect these cutting-edge payments. Check out the posts in our blog focusing on the retail space, and the hardware and software that facilitates that core B2C interaction: the point of sale.