A new survey conducted by Constant Contact indicates that mobile technology has become the new point-of-sale (POS) solution of choice for a growing number of small businesses.
Seventy-one percent of small businesses using mobile technology now accept mobile payments and 52 percent utilize a mobile-/tablet-based point-of-sale system, the report finds.
“In busy shops and department stores, speed and efficiency of service are integral to customer satisfaction,” says PayAnywhere, a leading provider of mobile payment solutions.
PayAnywhere believes that mobile payments allow merchants to speed up lines and process sales with far greater speed, which can maximize business during the busiest hours of the day.
“The ability to accept payments in digital form not only courts a broader range of customers; it also induces people into spending more than they otherwise would if limited only to cash,” PayAnywhere writes on its official blog.
Unfortunately, there are still thousands of small businesses yet to take the plunge into mobile for any of their business management and operational needs.
When asked about their reservations, respondents gave Constant Contact a variety of excuses for their anti-mobile posturing.
- 56 percent said their customers haven’t expressed demand for mobile communications.
- 47 percent said their customers haven’t expressed demand for mobile payment solutions.
- 36 percent said they are interested in mobile solutions but don’t know enough about how to best use them.
- 33 percent said they’re interested in mobile solutions but haven’t had time to implement any yet.
- 31 percent said they don’t have a work-/business-related smartphone.
- 28 percent said mobile is not relevant to their industry/business.
“Generally speaking, small business owners have very little spare time on their hands, so learning how to use mobile technology for their business is not necessarily tops on their ‘to do’ list,” says Joel Hughes, senior vice president of strategy and corporate development at Constant Contact. “We received some anecdotal survey responses that said ‘It costs too much’ and ‘I have no idea how this stuff works,’ representing the subset of small businesses that will forgo mobile opportunities until their customers start demanding mobile communications or payment solutions.”
