Just two or three decades ago, paying with cash was the most common method for buyers and sellers to conduct transactions. If nothing else, bills and coins provided a straightforward way to do business, with customers never spending more than they had on hand. However, the expansion of technology (and the digital revolution that came with it) have forever changed the way merchants and buyers view cash.

The advantages of electronic payments.

Once customers and retailers became acclimated to the digital payments universe, they discovered the many advantages it afforded. The benefits include the following.

• Increased safety. Both merchants and their patrons realized greater security when they no longer had large amounts of money in their wallets or cash drawers.
• More thorough record-keeping. Instead of needing to keep track of paper receipts, proof of purchase was available to all parties electronically thanks to more modern POS solutions.
• Enhanced relationships. Data about customers’ purchases could be recorded by the seller and used to reward loyalty. The business could then send targeted promotions that helped to facilitate a positive bond with the retailer while encouraging referrals.
• Multiple payment choices. Now that buyers can use electronic means to buy goods and services, retail operators can offer a wide array of choices to suit their industry, not to mention their shoppers’ preferences. These include touchless or contactless payments using near-frequency communication (NFC), recurring or subscription billing that connects directly to a customer’s account, and even cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin.
• Enhanced back-office functionality for sellers. When payments are made in digital form through a POS system, data can be stored for later interpretation. As a result, business owners can generate reports that examine sales histories, buying trends, employee performance, and inventory levels.

Although buying with bills and coins was the traditional way of gaining access to goods and services for many centuries, the pluses that digital technology has brought to the retail arena in recent years are increasingly rendering cash obsolete.

A word about digital payments and the coronavirus.

In early 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic began to intensify, many stores and restaurants were forced to close down. Those that weathered the storm did so because of their flexibility and willingness to adapt to the times. One of the most important steps that many took to protect employee and customer safety was to give customers alternative ways to buy their merchandise.

Most updated POS card readers are already fitted with the NFC capabilities necessary to communicate with customers’ hand-held devices and wearables. Thanks to this innovation, there never needs to be any physical contact between buyer and seller. Letting consumers order over the phone and offering contactless curbside pickup are additional solutions that many merchants have embraced. All that is necessary to make this happen is a website or Virtual Terminal you can manually enter a buyer’s payment details into. 

No one knows when the most devastating effects of the pandemic will recede. However, it seems clear that the ways we do business will never be the same. The use of cash, already fading in popularity in 2020, will continue to wane. If you have not already incorporated a multi-functional POS solution into your retail business, there is no time like the present to discuss upgrading your systems with your merchant service provider.