Technology is everywhere. Nowadays, there is the possibility, for your business, of getting paid faster with the use of a simple mobile payment app. This is also a way to get more customers engaged with your shop, facilitating their payment methods by constantly innovating; and also it´s a really “cool” way of paying.

 

What are the advantages of having a mobile payment app in your business?

There are loads of them. First, customers don´t have to wait in queues to pay! You can deliver a great service and food but if people have to wait in queue for a long time before to pay, all those positive feelings developed will quickly vanish and replaced by frustration for a slow service (Lesonsky, 2014).

 

Other advantage is that the bill can be split easily between customers. This is a great benefit for your customers that usually have to get a calculator and do it. Now mobile apps can do it for you! It can even divide by item and customers pay exactly what they have consumed.

Source: (Flypay.it, 2015)

 

In this image we can see an example of a mobile payment app developed recently by a start up called Flypay based in London. It is a free payment method for the customers whom receive the bill directly on their smartphones and pay it without wait for any waiter to come with the bill, card machine or change. They are already working with big brands in the food market such as Jamie Oliver and Gourmet Burger Kitchen.

 

There are other examples that you can use on your shop and that would be extremely helpful for both you and your customer. One of the most spoken methods this last year was Apple Pay. This system was introduced with the new iOS 7 and you can use you iPhone, Apple watch or iPad to make the payments.

Source: (apple, 2015)

 

It can be used in shops or even online. When paying with your iPhone 6 you can easily pay using the Touch ID that recognizes your fingerprint (apple, 2015).

 

PayPal Here is another great possibility to implement in your small business. It is considered the most reliable and convenient solution for payments. It works only with Apple and Android, but it offers different types of payments according to your business needs, tailoring it to your service.

 

According to the article written by Courter (2013) on mobile apps, “mobile credit cards readers are changing the way we do business”. This small business owner stated that around 90% of his new customers were paying by card. At that moment he didn´t have a card machine so he was losing a large amount of customers. Therefore, he decided to try out Square.

Source: (Square, 2015)

 

Square is one of the cheapest ways to get mobile app payment in your small business. With no monthly fees or contracts, you only pay a percentage per transaction. The fact that you don’t need a contract made this percentage a bit higher than the other apps (2.75% per transaction) (Square, 2015). So, it is a really good way of getting paid, especially when you are a small business. However if your number of transactions will increase further, other app are available at more advantageous costs.

 

To conclude, this will definitely help you to make the next step towards the growth and development of your business. Consumers buying habits are definitely shifting towards innovation and technology, so just give them a reason to engage with you business and delivery a better service.

 

 

 

 

 

References

 

 

Apple, (2015) Apple – Apple Pay. [Online] Available at: https://www.apple.com/apple-pay/ [Accessed 1 May 2015].

 

Courter, B. (2015) Mobile credit card readers changing way we do business. [Online] Timesfreepress.com, Available at: http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/local/story/2013/feb/09/mobile-credit-card-readers-changing-way/99222/ [Accessed 1 May 2015]

 

Flypay.it, (2015). flypay. [Online] Available at: http://flypay.it/ [Accessed 1 May 2015].

 

Lesonsky, R. (2014) 5 Mobile Payment Apps That Get You Paid Faster. [Online] American Express Open Forum. Available at: https://www.americanexpress.com/us/small-business/openforum/articles/5-mobile-payment-apps-that-get-you-paid-faster/ [Accessed 1 May 2015].

 

Square, (2015) Free POS Software | Square Register. [Online] Available at: https://squareup.com/global/en/register [Accessed 1 May 2015].