How a Credit Card Machine Will Increase Your Sales

It's hard to believe, but there are still merchants out there that are reluctant to have a credit card machine. These "old school" holdouts operate on the belief that it's not worth it to pay the small processing fees that come with having a credit card machine account. Well, they're wrong and they're missing a strong segment of customers that don't carry cash and rely on the convenience of using debit and credit cards.

In fact, many organizations that represent small business merchants have published reports that indicate the a merchant's sales will increase upwards of 40% after they obtain a credit card machine and begin to accept electronic payment methods. If you think about it in terms of not wanting to pay the minor fees associated with this payment method against the possible gain in revenue, it really makes very little sense not to have a credit card machine for your retail business.

The credit card machine has evolved, too. What used to be a clunky countertop device that took up space and was slow to authorize is now a sleek, modernized slice of technology. The credit card machine today is compact, efficient and comes in a variety of styles and functionalities. There's now a credit card machine to suit every merchant type and need.

On-the-go merchants, such as home contractors, or personal fitness trainers, might think that a credit card machine would be something they would not be able to use. After all, how could these types of "merchants" carry a credit card machine with them? Where would they hook it into? Plus, if you think about the traditional credit card machines that you see in convenience stores, you might wonder if it would be a nuisance to cart around

Well, there's now an entirely new breed of credit card machine solutions that are referred to as "mobile" devices. These are add-ons for smart phones and they work perfectly for merchants that take their business to their clients and not the other way around. One example is the RoamPay™, a small plugin for the iPhone that acts as a card swiper. Simply swipe your client's credit card through the device and it will transmit the data for processing.

There are also merchants that have a need to take their business outside. Think about Farmer's Markets. For many of them, there's a display of in-season produce located in the front of their store but they're check-out counter is generally way in the back of the store. Merchants like this can use wireless credit card machine products. Without the wires, they can be transported around the store. This makes them remarkably convenient and they fill a much-needed niche for a lot of non-traditional merchants that need to process sales in a variety of locations throughout their business.

Even merchants that do phone and mail order sales can benefit from having a credit card machine. They can take the orders in and input the numbers into the machine, saving them time and money in taking these to their bank for direct processing. Check and compare rates for credit card machines that will be used this way, though. Because merchant processing accounts for manual entry-type sales generally charge a slightly higher fee than for cards that are able to be swiped through the machine.

And, finally, for many types of merchants, a credit card machine is not always an option because they're operating an e-commerce store. This means that they're selling goods and services only online, not in a physical location. For these merchants the best options are online payment gateways, such as Authorize.net and PlugnPay. Both of these payment providers specialize in ecommerce merchants and can quickly help you get your ecommerce business integrated with their products and accepting online payments.