Alternative payments are causing a major disruption in retail as customers look for faster and convenient ways of paying for products, and a majority of stores are now diversifying their payment methods to eliminate the risk of being faced out. However, even as the number of retailers adopting alternative payment methods increases, most are still losing customers at the critical check out stage.

Consumer behavior has rapidly evolved, and the purchasing experience is now as important to customers as the products you are selling. The modern consumer is looking for excellent customer experience and convenience, and if they fail to get it from you at any stage of the purchase process, then you risk losing them forever. However, most retailers still don't understand how much impact these two aspects have on their businesses.

In a recent market survey, 95% of consumers confirmed that good user experience is of essence when it comes to making purchases. Excellent user experience does not translate to a fancy website. It also takes into consideration how easy it is for customers to make payments to your store, even when they are in-store. It is therefore vital that you evaluate your checkout point to ensure that it delivers a seamless experience to consumers.

How retailers are boosting the in-store experience

Mobile wallets and mobile payments are increasingly becoming popular with consumers due to convenience, and customers expect you to replicate the same level of service at your POS terminal. They want to be able to make their payments fast and spend as little time as possible at checkout. Delivering this experience may seem a difficult task for retailers, but emerging technologies that enable contactless payments are making it easier than ever. 

One such technology is Netclearance's smart payment beacon technology  which gives consumers a lot of payment freedom because they can pay for purchases without having to interact with sales associates in a store. Beacons cover a wireless range from few inches to up tens of feet, which gives them a competitive advantage over any other proximity payment method. With this technology, users can connect to your POS terminal from any location in your store hence they don't have to wait in long queues to make payments. All the customers needs is a BLE enabled device -- which now comes with most smartphones (98% of smartphones compared to less than 20% with NFC) -- and your POS beacon. 

To learn more about beacon technology and how our mBeaconPay and mBeaconSAM solutions can help you deliver seamless experience at your POS terminal, visit our website today.