Processing payments is an important part of your pet store business. Using an integrated payment processor allows you to create a cohesive, seamless experience for both your customers and your sales team. You can reduce transaction time, eliminate manual work, and save hours on paperwork and reporting because it’s all automatically managed within the integrated system.
As pets continue to hold the spotlight, modern pet retail is demanding more convenience and efficiency for pet owners. Shopping online has changed the way that people conduct business but with integrated payment processing, you can enjoy:
- Streamlined shopping and payments
- Contactless payment options
- Online and mobile sale integration
- Inventory management
- Data management
- Enhanced security
- Recurring payments and subscriptions
- Customized reporting and analytics
Understanding Integrated Payments Processors
An integrated payment processor is exactly what it sounds like. This is a system that communicates with your POS to process and complete customer transactions. The “integrated” aspect refers to how it works seamlessly with your POS and other software to provide a better customer experience, both at the checkout and beyond.
This system automates several aspects of the accounting and reporting processes, too, allowing your pet store business to keep tabs on how things are going, generate real-time reports, and more.
Read on to learn more about the benefits of integrated payment processing.
Streamlined In-Store Transactions
With integrated payments, your in-store transactions will be quick, simple, and to the point. They will allow customers to check out securely and seamlessly, saving a lot of time and effort. Plus, when the customer checks out and purchases items, those will automatically be removed from your inventory.
When you can quickly and securely process payments, you’re more likely to attract customers who want a pet store that they can count on. The longer it takes someone to check out and pay for an item, the more time they have to consider alternatives or rethink their purchase—integrated payment processing eliminates this extra time.
Contactless Payment Options
Today’s payment processors have a lot of contactless options for integrated payments. Thanks to the changes made during the pandemic, almost all payment processing systems offer touchless card payments, at the very least. Even grocery stores (and yes, pet stores) are starting to accept Apple Pay, Google Pay, mobile wallets, and other contactless options for truly integrated payments and payment processing.
Not only does this offer more peace of mind to your customers, but it allows them to pay in a way that works for them. When comparing integrated payment processors, look for one that maximizes the payment options that you can offer to customers.
Online and Mobile Sales
A quality payment processor will facilitate all of your transactions, including online and mobile sales – hence the name “integrated payments.”
No longer will you have one POS at the store and one eCommerce platform online. It will all be tied together and make it easy for you to accept payments online and off. This may also increase the number of mobile and online sales that you have since you’ve updated to a secure, reputable payment processor that handles integrated payments.
Automatic Inventory Updates
As mentioned, when you have an integrated system, your inventory will automatically update based on things like sales, returns, shipments, and so forth. This makes it easier to manage your inventory, set up automatic ordering and inventory refills, and more. It also provides straightforward inventory tracking when you need it.
Customer Data Management
With your integrated POS, you’ll be able to store and manage customer data through your CRM at the same time. The data that is collected by the POS and other systems will ensure that you know all about your customers and their needs. This valuable data can also enhance the customer experience and help you create personalized marketing campaigns.
Pet stores and other retail shops collect tons of customer data daily, but most don’t do much with it. When you have an integrated payment processor, you will be able to put that data to work to help you improve customer interactions.
Subscription Services and Recurring Payments
Your new integrated POS and payment processing system can now manage all of your subscriptions and recurring payments. As brands like Chewy and BarkBox encourage pet owners to subscribe to pet-friendly shipments, your retail pet store should follow suit. Offering subscription billing for things like pet food will save people time and effort, and it will give you the guarantee of future business. Plus, it can all be processed in the same system as regular transactions, streamlining things across the business.
Enhanced Safety Measures
An all-in-one payment processing platform that integrates with the rest of your tools is also going to provide premium security and safety in every transaction. Today, security breaches and data hacks are a big concern. That can make people leery of shopping online or using a payment system that they’re not familiar with. Your integrated payment processor will include enhanced security to protect every customer and transaction.
Reporting and Analytics
While you’re running your pet store through an integrated system, you’re also going to collect a lot of valuable data and insights. That data can be viewed and managed in your reporting section of the platform. Here, you can view sales reports, KPI reports, and other data to see how sales are performing and where you can make improvements. Since it’s all integrated, it’s all right at your fingertips.
Conclusion
As you can see, there’s a lot that your pet store stands to gain from the implementation of integrated payments. This offers the convenience and flexibility that your customers need both online and in-store, and it helps your business run more efficiently. Although they might seem intimidating at first, these solutions are actually quite simple and they are essential to enhancing customer satisfaction and streamlining your operations.
If you are ready to invest in an integrated payment processing platform that helps you grow your pet store retail business, eTailPet has the solutions you need. Check out our integrated payment processing services and see how they can help your pet store grow.