Attending a farmers market allows you to offer a wide variety of products and/or services to a diverse pool of customers. The atmosphere is fun and artsy, and the opportunities for friendly networking are numerous. As you contemplate getting started in this exciting and potentially lucrative shopping environment, however, you may be wondering just how customers can pay for what they buy.
Introducing the mobile POS (mPOS) system.
Today’s wireless technology means that you no longer need to be tethered to a wired credit card terminal to accept payments. As a result, the marketplace is split wide open, allowing for a degree of freedom and payment security that neither buyers or sellers could have foreseen even a few years ago. These days, all you need to accept payments is a tablet or cellphone, a dongle (or connector), a mobile card reader, and an easily downloadable payment processing app. Once the mobile point of sale system is set up with your payment processing company — something that can be done quickly and easily — you will be immediately ready to accept payments at farmers markets or wherever your business takes you.
The advantages of mPOS systems.
There are many benefits of using a mobile POS system that both you and your customers will appreciate. These include the following.
- Speed. No longer do people need to fumble for cash or restrict themselves to only spending what they have in their pockets. Mobile POS technology lets vendors securely accept credit and debit card payments in a matter of seconds.
- Security. Although the process is quick, that does not mean it is sloppy or slipshod. In fact, the latest in certified, point-to-point encryption and tokenization measures should be used to help ensure that any payment details that are communicated remain safe from cybercriminals.
- Retrievable. In the busy shopping environment of a farmers market, paper receipts and business cards can easily get lost. This could be a real problem if there ever is an issue with the purchase, or the customers want to contact you at a later date to give them more business. Luckily, receipts can be accurately emailed to a customer from an mPOS system, enhancing record-keeping.
- Continuous. Instead of the farmers market shopping experience being a one-time-only journey, your mobile POS can be used to capture customer data — with their permission, of course. You can use those stored details to send personalized promotions and discount offers to the shopper to encourage them to become a regular customer.
- Access to analytics. Launching a farmers market is difficult in its own way, but other challenges arise when you are planning on how to improve it over time. You can use the analytics data from your mobile POS to show when your busiest times were, what types of customers shopped with you, and which items they tended to buy the most. Access to these details gives you a gold mine that you can tap as you plan the growth of your farmers market presence over time.
Farmers markets bring fun, diversity, and creativity to their communities. Make the most of your new mobile endeavor by enriching it with mobile POS technology. You and the customers you serve at your next farmers market will reap the rewards!
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