The key goals of businesses everywhere should be to sell their products and services to as wide of an audience as possible while generating enough revenue to keep the business running while earning a steady profit. But, beyond this, businesses also need to focus on keeping their customers as happy as can be during their interaction with the business.
Good levels of customer satisfaction are essential in turning one-time customers into repeat customers and, in turn, generating repeat business that will boost profits regularly. From a traditional standpoint, the way to do this is through methods such as stellar customer service.
Beyond the obvious, a modern audience can also be satisfied in their interactions with a business by having their needs met; needs that may not have been as prevalent in previous generations. Things like speed, convenience and security are all paramount in the minds of the modern consumer – all of which can be provided by a business offering contactless card payments.
But does offering contactless card payments really help keep customers happy, and does it encourage them to look upon a business more favourably? And are there any statistics that help illuminate this topic? Let’s take a look.
Do contactless card machines make a difference in the way a customer feels?
As discussed above, there are several advantages presented by contactless card machines that may entice a customer to not only shop with a business but return multiple times, based on the supposed “needs” of the modern consumer:
Contactless card payments are convenient
People lead very busy lives in 2023, so anything that can make their experiences more convenient could easily be considered an advantage in raising customer satisfaction levels. In fact, many customers have become so used to convenience in their interactions with businesses that anything but an easy, no-hassle transaction could easily frustrate them. Most people can now be categorised as “very impatient” compared to how relaxed as a society we used to be, according to a study by Ohio University.
82% of consumers ranked convenience as “very high” in importance in their daily retail experiences, according to a research paper released by consumer data website Numerator. So if businesses want to avoid accidentally aggravating their customers, even if they’re only delayed by minor seconds, and keep customer satisfaction levels high, contactless card payments present the most convenient and easiest way to pay for goods and services.
Contactless card payments are fast
In a world of instant gratification, where customers can make massive purchases at the touch of a button or place an order and expect it to be delivered within the hour, the businesses that can keep their customers the happiest are the ones that arguably can serve them the fastest.
Businesses that still rely on chip and pin payments, or even just cash-only payments, are considerably behind contactless payments in the speed department. Contactless payments take less than a second to go through, according to Lloyds Bank, and even while card payments, in general, do not take very long to go through, the act of physically placing the card in the machine, waiting for the machine to register the presence of the card, and finally entering your PIN is a very time-consuming process compared to the alternative.
Cash payments even fall firmly behind both of these options, with patrons having to reach for their pocket, purse or wallet to retrieve cash, hand it over to the cashier, and wait as their change is counted out before it is finally handed to them. All in all, contactless card payments are, in some cases, over ten times faster than the closest alternative, making them a surefire way to make speedy transactions and keep customers satisfied in a world where speed is everything.
Contactless card payments are secure – peace of mind
According to Security.org, 65% of people with a credit or debit card have experienced credit card fraud at least once in their lifetime. As technology becomes more advanced, so do the ways criminals utilise it to steal customers’ sensitive financial data, placing even more worries on the shoulders of everyday consumers.
However, some solace can be taken in the fact that contactless card payments are one of the most secure forms of payment today and this security has only improved along with technology and the advancement of card machines.
While the financial data is shared between the card machine and the card contactlessly, which presents new security fears in itself, all data is end-to-end encrypted meaning even if the data was successfully stolen by cybercriminals they would not be able to decipher it without the encryption key, rendering it completely useless.
This level of technological advancement and security offers consumers peace of mind – which when combined with all the above advantages, makes contactless card payments an unmissable option to keep customers both safe and satisfied.
Choose a reputable and reliable card machine vendor for your business
If you’re looking to boost customer satisfaction and meet all the needs of the modern consumer, and you’re yet to get on board with contactless card payments, partnering with a reputable and reliable card machine vendor will help you get started with as few hiccups as possible, so you can fully embrace the technology and the profits it brings.
