If you provide solutions to small and medium-sized business (SMB) merchants, you probably focused on selling terminal and mobile point of sale (POS) to support card-present digital payments – before 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic pushed consumer behaviors past the point of no return to create higher numbers of new and loyal e-commerce shoppers. It also drove more consumers toward alternative, touchless ways to pay in-store, such as text-to-pay, QR code, and in-app payments.
It’s clear that SMB merchants need to make changes to their POS and payment solutions to provide the experiences that consumers demand – and many of your clients and prospects recognize it. The 2021 Visa Back to Business Study found that 44 percent of SMBs believe that various types of digital payments are necessary to meet their customers’ needs.
3 Ingredients for Efficient In-Store + E-Commerce Businesses
As a trusted POS and payments solutions provider, you need to help your clients make smart investments into solutions that will provide the right consumer experiences. However, you also need to look at the changing world from the merchant’s point of view. Payments solutions should support an efficient, forward-thinking business with:
- One Payments Provider
Different vendors for card-present, online, unattended payments, ACH, and more means that end-of-day reporting will be more complicated and time-consuming. Also, troubleshooting can be harder – it’s not always easy for a manager to know who to call when there are problems with a specific type of payment. With one provider that enables all payments, the business can work with a dedicated rep to find answers to any of their questions and for technical support. - Omnichannel Payments
SMB merchants operating post-COVID-19 need an omnichannel payments platform to meet the expectations of new omnichannel shoppers. A single, integrated platform ensures that consumers have consistent experiences on all channels, even if they start their shopping journey on one and complete it on another. Omnichannel payments support seamless buy online pickup in store (BOPIS) and buy online return in store (BORIS) processes. They also allow consumers to earn loyalty points or buy a gift card on any channel and redeem it on another. - Business Continuity
Integrating your POS software with a payments solution that enables both card-present and card-not-present payments also provides your clients with business continuity. After the stops and starts of 2020, SMB merchants will recognize the value of a flexible solution that lets them adapt and engage their customers where it makes the most sense. If physical channels shut down again due to rising COVID-19 numbers – or for other reasons, such as a fire, storm, or utility outages – the business can keep operating their e-commerce channel.
Brick-and-Mortar SMB Merchants Are Evolving
You may have pitched e-commerce solutions and payment gateways to your clients and prospects in the past with limited success. It’s time to try again. SMB merchants experienced the struggle of not being able to open their physical stores and ensuring business continuity in the future is top of mind. It won’t take much to convince them how valuable a flexible payments platform is when disaster strikes.
Provide them with the options they need by integrating your software with omnichannel payments. It’s the best path forward at a time when consumer behaviors and demands are changing, and SMB merchants’ success will depend on their ability to deliver.
