Jan
22
2018
Jan
19
2018
How Do You Show Your Customers That You Appreciate Them?
It’s a new year, and if you’re still going strong as a business, there’s one reason why—and that reason is your customers.
Have you taken a moment to simply say thanks?
There are many ways that you can show your appreciation to the people and businesses who help keep your doors open.
Here are three ways that you can show gratitude to your clients:
- Introduce a loyalty program. From e-commerce to restaurants to department stores, loyalty programs inspire brand loyalty by offering perks for those who are a part of the program. So, if you are a restaurant, why not offer a free dessert or discounted meal on a patron’s birthday?
- Share a book or an industry-specific memento. Sharing a book offers two benefits. It shows your customers that you are making an effort to grow and build on your industry know-how. Second, your client will be able to learn more about you as a company, and have an interesting reason to start up a conversation next time he or she says hello.
- Feature customers on your website. Take the opportunity to tell a story about how your client used your product or service and benefited from it. Having someone say something great about you is much more beneficial than saying something positive about yourself. So, use the resources you already have to drum up positive press, and your customers will be glad to gain free exposure for their work as well.
These are just a few ideas. You might already have some customer appreciation hacks of your own. What others would you add to the list?
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Jan
16
2018
It’s time to offer an IPAD POS Solution to your restaurant clients
Our team has found that selling a merchant what they want instead of trying to sell them what you offer is the easiest sale. With dozens of years of experience in the point of sale business, we see smiles on the faces of our clients when we talk about our IPAD POS Solution. The cashiers are comfortable with it, the form factor is customizable, and the cloud component is expected.
Would you like to offer Ipad POS Solutions to your merchants?
You can’t beat the affordability and ease of use, give me a call for more details!
Ryan Christman
National Sales Manager
ryan@cocard.info
http://www.cocard.info
Toll Free: 800.317.1819
ATL: 404.499.9944 ext. 4360
Fax: 678.578.4380
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Dec
13
2017
Why Android – You mean WHY NOT?
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Oct
02
2017
Retail POS, What Do I Need?
Last week I spent a lot of time talking to business owners, one location I was visiting I had the owner tell me the most important feature was the PRICE of a system to them.
I disagree!
I have spent twenty years as a FEATURE guy, focusing on what a business needs and how the features of different solutions are crucial to a successful point of sale solution implementation.
After talking to the owner about everything from price embedded bar-codes, to weight scales, to EBT it turned out that price for sure was not the most important feature. A simple solution would not have come close to helping this business.
Can I help you find the solution for your store that will serve your business?
What features do you need?
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Sep
28
2017
Let’s Talk About Food!!
Have you got a favorite restaurant or maybe you are a chef and want to share your favorite recipe? Let’s talk about it, share because I want to know and others do too. I am into organic gardening, I have a garden and I love everything about it; the dirt in my toes, the fresh veggies in a basket, on the table and finally on a plate, I love it all! I recently found this blog with some great organic recipes check it out and please share your loves, your favorites a little bit of you. Nelda
http://www.sproutedkitchen.com/
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May
17
2016
Apple Pay Expands to Canada
If there wasn’t any before, Apple Pay’s recent expansion has given merchants throughout the country of Canada a strong incentive to provide point of sale solutions compatible with the service. Although Apple Pay isn’t necessarily a service that is new to Canada, May 2016 marks the first time that customers will be able to make transactions with cards not exclusive to American Express.
For those that aren’t familiar, Apple Pay is a relatively new mobile payment feature powered by Apple that allows customers to pay for goods and services through their iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch. Launched in October 2014, the application is synced with a user’s credit card and is utilized by holding your device near the contactless reader on a merchant’s POS system. The application then requires a user’s fingerprint Touch ID to authorize the transaction, and is a replacement for traditional ‘Chip and Pin’ or ‘Chip and Signature’ security methods.
Although Apple Pay has been available in Canada since November 2015, it has only recently become available for merchants that process cardholders not affiliated with American Express.
On May 10, Apple Pay’s services were expanded to customers of Royal Bank of Canada, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, ATB Financial and Canadian Tire Bank. This expansion now supports Visa, Mastercard, and Interac, servicing a majority of cardholders in Canada. Services will be further expanded to TD Canada Trust, Scotiabank and the Bank of Montreal in order to fully accommodate Canada’s ‘Big 5’ banks, as well as two additional credit unions (iMore).
Apple Pay has potential to make a big splash in the Canadian market, primarily due to its cooperation with banking institutions. American Express is infamous for charging higher processing rates than its competitors, so Apple’s expansion beyond AmEx as sole proprietor of mobile transactions greatly increases its potential consumer base. In terms of customer protection, LoyaltyOne’s Senior Director of Research and Development believes that Apple Pay’s combination of security and branding are among its strongest selling points in foreign markets.
“Trust and security has remained a big issue with digital wallet adoption to-date, but studies show that consumers are more likely to adopt a mobile wallet platform and engage with the app if they trust a brand, and because banks are some of Canada’s most trusted brands, they are well-poised to get the most out of this digital trend,” says Berry. (MobileSyrup).
Having anticipated this major market shift, CoCard is fully equipped with a number of POS solutions that can quickly and efficiently service Apple Pay users in the United States. For more info about Apple Pay devices, call CoCard today at (800) 317-1819 or email at info@cocard.info.
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Apr
25
2016
Tips for Preventing a Data Breach
When you think about data breaches, your mind probably jumps to the highly publicized incidents of companies like Target and Home Depot. Small business might think they don’t need to take security measures–but that’s not the case. Small business are as susceptible to data breaches as large corporations, and may actually be at greater risk.
Stephen Cobb, a senior security researcher at ESET, says that hackers like to target small businesses because they have more digital assets than a single customer, and not as many security measures put into place as a large enterprise. According to QSR magazine, small businesses like restaurants, are data-thief magnets because they process an abundance of credit cards and often use POS equipment.
Protect your small business with these data breach prevention tips from Chip and Terminal:
1. Be Proactive
- Routinely check your POS systems to make sure they haven’t been tampered with.
- Don’t wait for a problem to arise. Perform regular vulnerability assessments- once a week is advisable. These tests should be conducted on all systems associated with your network.
2. Make sure your credit card processing network is secure
- Be sure adequate firewall and virus protection measures are put into place.
- Make sure your technology is secure and PCI compliant.
- Avoid combining your network with your in-store free Wi-Fi. Make sure any open Wi- Fi networks your customers may use is on a separate network from the one where you process your credit cards.
- If your devices are not properly installed, configured, and managed, you are taking on a large risk.
3. Hold your employees accountable
- Train your employees on proper security measures. Creating a culture in your business that is more security-minded can help eliminate mistakes that may lead to a data breach. If your employees are knowledgeable and diligent in regards to your network’s security, they will be better able to notice atypical behavior.
- Discuss with your employees the best way to optimize credit card security. Remind them that handling credit cards and physical cash is similar. There is a lot of responsibility that comes with handling money and information. Limiting how much employees handle credit cards out-of-sight can help prevent dishonest employees from stealing customer information.
- EMV technology in the U.S. is catching up to the rest of the world after the 2015 EMV mandate. The chip that is embedded in EMV cards is encrypted and creates a new code every time the card is used to make a purchase, making the card unable to be replicated and more secure than a simple magnetic stripe card.
- If a fraudulent charge has been made with an EMV enabled card, but a merchant doesn’t have the technology to process an EMV card, the merchant must accept the charge as a loss. Because of the liability shift it is critical that merchants invest in a processing system that accommodates EMV chips, whether they choose an EMV- enabled terminal or Point- of- Sale system.
- The prevalence of EMV cards makes a data breach less likely because it is a lot harder for hackers to target individual cardholders as well as the businesses that accept them
If you would like more information on how to update your POS system and how to be more secure, including switching to EMV compliant technology, contact us at 800-317-1819!
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