In today’s society, consumers want instant gratification. Successful businesses are the ones that can give consumers instant gratification. There are many things that brick and mortar stores can do to increase customer satisfaction, but in today’s fast-paced world, something that customers really are looking for is a faster shopping experience. According to a recent study, 88 percent of consumers want a speedier shopping experience, but how can businesses cater to these desires?

Part of a fast shopping experience is quicker checkouts. Long lines, crowded aisles, and outdated registers can really slow down — and negatively impact — the consumer shopping experience. To have more success and improve the overall consumer experience, both online and in-store businesses need to reduce the duration of the checkout processes. To help merchants keep up with the fast-paced desires of consumers, in this post, we put together some helpful tips to help in-store businesses speed up their checkout process.

Tips To Speed Up In-Store Checkout

After browsing the aisles and shelves, the last thing consumers want to do when shopping at a store is wait in a long line to checkout. People can often be impatient, and crowded checkout lanes can really put a damper on customer satisfaction. In fact, it is estimated that nine out of 10 shoppers will avoid shopping at a store if the checkout lines are too long. In this era of instant gratification, below are some tips that can help brick and mortar stores speed up their checkout process.

Get a reliable pos system

Using a slow or outdated POS system could certainly slow down the service that stores provide their customers with, resulting in slower transaction times, backed up registers or payment terminals, and frustration from both the customers and the employees. Business owners can solve this issue by replacing their old checkout system with a modern, quicker POS system. This will not only help speed up the checkout process by producing faster transaction times and improved productivity, but with faster transaction times more sales can be made throughout the day, as employees are able to serve more customers quicker. Many small businesses utilize mobile payment systems or iPad point of sale systems to enhance their checkout processes. A new POS system will be easier and more intuitive for employees to use and it is more secure and comes with more advanced technological features than an outdated system would.

Offer a variety of payment options

Supporting a broad range of payment types can help stores reduce the length of checkout processes. There are many different payment options out there, such as Apple Pay and EMV chip card. More and more people are slowly moving away from writing checks and paying in cash and beginning to use card and digital payment methods. Not only are these payment methods faster, allowing customers to quickly pay, but not accepting a consumer’s preferred choice of payment can lengthen the checkout process for them as well as the other customers.

Have multiple terminals

When consumers are ready to checkout after shopping only to find a long queue of customers and one overwhelmed sales associate will create a negative shopping experience. If businesses have a bigger storefront, placing multiple terminals throughout the store will help expedite the checkout process. More terminals will help reduce the length of checkout processes, keeping the lines moving fast and smooth.

Upgrade your wifi

Believe it or not, having a slow connection speed can really slow down the speed of transactions. By upgrading to a quality and fast Wi-fi connection, transactions speeds will increase, allowing credit card data to transmit faster. Although upgrading wifi may seem like a costly and unnecessary expense, it can make a huge difference and can help businesses breeze through checkouts.

Train employees

Employees should be trained adequately before they step behind the counter. A seamless checkout experience starts with the employees, so it is important for businesses to ensure their staff members are informed, friendly, and up-to-date with all the products and processes, such as operating a POS system or issuing a refund to a customer. If employees take too long to complete a transaction, lines can begin to build and customers may start to leave. Trained, knowledgeable, and friendly employees will not only profit the business, they will expedite the checkout process too.

Offer digital receipts

When lines are long, the last thing customers will want to do is wait for their receipt to print from a register— most customers don’t even keep them anyway!  By allowing customers to choose to have a digital receipt sent to them via email. This can benefit a business is a few ways. Not only do digital receipts allow stores to collect email addresses to add to the marketing list, they can help make the checkout process quicker.  

Consider contactless readers

With the increase in card holders using their card’s touch-and-go feature, it is essential for businesses to consider investing in contactless readers at their terminals if they want to expedite the checkout process. All customers have to do is tap their card on the reader and their transaction is quickly processed. This will help decrease the checkout time for consumers and ensure that the lines are more efficient, smooth, and faster.

By following these tips, businesses can expedite their checkout process, helping more customers faster and making more sales. An improved checkout starts with a reliable and modern point of sale system. Without one, transaction times are lengthed, lines get longer, and more employees become frustrated. Using an intuitive POS system can help streamline the payment process for a business and its customers.

Do you want the best POS system?

If your business’s point of sale system is outdated, it could be making the checkout processes longer. If you are ready to upgrade your point of sale terminal, you can find some of the most intuitive POS solutions at Tekcard Payments, one of the leaders in merchant processing services. We carry a wide selection of modern POS systems, including Clover System and Aldelo POS systems. If you are ready for a comprehensive and affordable point of sale system, contact the experts at TekCard Payments.