As the country’s fifth largest payments provider*, Tyro has developed a strong reputation in the market for its integrated EFTPOS solutions in the hospitality sector. Here, Tyro’s chief product officer Bronwyn Yam discusses some important considerations to help merchants make their payments solution work for them.
Few people understand the challenges of wearing multiple hats at work better than a small business operator.
From marketing the venue to ordering stock and managing payroll, rosters and banking admin, hospitality operators often spend as much time on business administration as on their core business.
Having a payments solution which integrates seamlessly into your business is one sure-fire way to reduce the admin work and improve your overall customer experience.
A good payments solution should:
Create efficiencies
Integrating your EFTPOS and POS solutions will benefit your venue by reducing keying errors and reducing the time your customers spend paying at the counter or table by improving the transaction speeds, which in turn will improve table turn and efficiencies of your wait staff.
Integration also streamlines the end-of-day reconciliation, reducing the time spent staying back after close and freeing you up to get back to what you want to be doing – like going home.
Some venues might also want to introduce a surcharge on transactions in accordance with the Reserve Bank of Australia’s Card Payments Regulations. If you do want to introduce a surcharge, be sure to enquire as to whether the EFTPOS solution calculates the surcharge for card acceptance costs, to help you comply with the regulations.
A good solution will also allow you to monitor your EFTPOS transactions in real time via an app, so you know exactly what’s going on no matter where you are. It’s particularly valuable if you have multiple venues.
Improve customer experience
Your venue’s transaction process should be as simple and smooth as possible for your customers; they are spending money with you and you want their last interaction to be a good one.
The flexibility of accepting payments at the table or at the counter only makes the transaction process more convenient for your customers. Pay-at-table means no queues at the counter and a faster transaction process. It also keeps your front of house flowing, while still integrating with your POS to ensure the reporting is consolidated in the backend.
Staff having to wait for the till drawer to open between each transaction – or even just for a slow EFTPOS machine – also increases wait times and impacts your customers’ experience, particularly during peak periods.
Just as important as speed is the reliability of your payments solution; having a machine which regularly drops out can only mean more of those awkward conversations asking customers if they can visit the ATM next door. Make sure you check its uptime and what sort of back up capabilities it has.
Another way to ensure you’re catering to your customers’ needs, is by giving them the option to split their bill. With more people using cards than ever before, having simple split bill functionality helps you accommodate your customers’ needs, while keeping the process simple for your staff. Having tipping functionality which is simple and discreet for customers, but also rewarding for staff should also be an important consideration.
Having the ability to accept as many payment schemes and devices as possible is also an important factor in customer experience. This includes Chinese platforms such as Alipay, particularly as China is now Australia’s largest inbound visitor market[1].
Support least-cost routing
For all businesses, any opportunity to save money on fees and charges is a welcome one. In order to accept EFTPOS payments, you will be charged a merchant service fee which is paid as a percentage of the transaction.
These fees can vary depending on which path the transaction is routed down. In many cases, the local network attracts lower fees than the international card schemes and having a payments solution which can make that determination could result in savings for your business.
When doing your research, find out each solution’s capabilities to give yourself the best possible chance to save money on merchant service fees.
Support your growth
As your business grows, your payments solution must be able to adapt to your changing needs and support you as you scale.
The ability to add additional terminals or even support the opening of new venues without compromising your existing processes is critical. That’s where POS integration is again the key factor; it consolidates all of your reporting, data and insights in the one place, regardless of where the transaction is processed.
If you experience a boom in trade on the back of a favourable review, being able to cope with the increased foot traffic and volume of transactions is also critical to ensure your new customers keep coming back.
Whether you are a restaurant, bar or cafe, having a comprehensive payments solution which integrates with your POS will help you realise efficiencies in your business and improve the overall payments experience for your customers and staff, while reducing your admin requirements.
To find out how one of Tyro’s EFTPOS specialists can help your business, submit your details here.
*As per the statistics detailed in Authorised Deposit-taking Institutions Points of Presence June 2019 issued by APRA in November 2019. Excludes EFTPOS providers who are not ADIs.
[1] Tourism Australia International Visitor Snapshot as at June 30 2019. Accessed February 19, 2020 http://www.tourism.australia.com/content/dam/assets/document/1/7/7/c/v/2015743.pdf