The mobile business market is growing, and your business can grow with it! Mobile businesses can include anything from a food truck to a table at the local craft market. Choosing a great credit card swiper for phone is essential, particularly if your product tends to be over $20.
Determining Your Business Needs
Depending on your overhead, you may want to choose from various plans. Some plans offer you a flat rate and a lower percentage of your transactions. Others may not require a fee, but they will often take a higher percentage of the total transaction out. Calculate which will be the least expensive for you overall.
The cheapest plan may not be the best one if you have other needs like additional software or receipt printing. Some sales platforms will even help you build e-mail lists. Consider the whole system and which will most benefit your business overall.
Picking a Size
There are several basic models of credit card swiper for phone. Some of them attach to the edge of a gadget and are more like the swipers at the grocery store. These may have added security measures on them.
Of course, most people have seen the ones that are a smallish chip by now. They attach to a USB cord on a phone and look a little like a tiny internet hub. People may have them confused with a small modem at some point, but rest assured they are actually a credit card swiper.
Larger swipers are not that much easier to use than the smaller ones, so people can choose freely. The major difference is that you have to hold your phone nearer to the card unless you get a really long USB cord. The smaller ones move easier, so if you are working a booth or fair, this might be a better option.
Testing Speeds and Add-Ons
Small businesses pay a lot of attention to customer service and personalized marketing. So, finding a swiper that is compatible with your marketing and sales platform is a good idea. Some swipers come with a software package that helps you build e-mail lists or manage inventory, so shop around to see which is right for you.
High on the list of important things to do when shopping for a swiper is testing speeds. Make sure to test your swiper against the internet in the area you will be working in. Some places have faster internet than others; this can be especially true at markets or stalls at a mall.
When testing, try the swiper out on a couple of friends to see if it’s intuitive. Ideally, it will be easy to guess how to use the swiper and easy to read the buttons. If all goes well, your software may even enable you to send a thank-you email to the customers.