Get Ready for the Holiday Season. Don’t Forget to Check Credit Card Processing Rates.
The rush shopping season is just around the corner. Is your business ready for the rush? Have you checked your credit card processing rates yet? The sooner you put on your thinking hats and do a full audit, the better prepared you will be for the upcoming shopping season and the more revenue you can generate.
Learn from your History
How did you perform in the last holiday season? Analyze what you did well last year? Was there some room for improvement? Which specific marketing campaigns worked for you? Did you have any problems with your electronic payment solutions?
Learn from your previous failures and adjust your strategy accordingly. By analyzing data, you can make each season more successful than the last one.
Related: 5 Steps to a Great Online Customer Service Process.
Launch Social Media campaigns and Promotions early
Young consumers are more tech savvy and have certain expectations with regard to accessing information and services. They are more active in social media networks. It is a great idea to launch your social media game to grab their attention. So what are you doing to plan your holiday content?
What are the kinds of promotions, discounts and special offers do you plan to dole out during the rush season? Do not ignore decorations, holiday packaging, and store displays, because it is here that you have chances of grabbing eyeballs, increasing sales, and getting extra revenue from potential customers.
Related: Merchants Can Reduce Payment Processing Costs by Using eChecks (ACH).
Get Set and Go
The holiday season is rush season. Hire any extra help needed for the rush shopping season. Assess your boxes, inventory, and other packaging and shipping supplies. Do keep some stock for post-holiday season when some customers are expected to approach you for return or exchange gifts.
Related: Make Online Payments Easier for eCommerce Customers.
Check Credit Card Processing Rates
Since the holiday season is expected to be the best time of the year for most retailers, it is a good idea to check your credit card processing rates. You don’t want to be surprised with unexpectedly higher rates or chargebacks. Chargebacks will eat away your profits and become a huge liability.
Related: How to Reduce Chargebacks and Refunds.
How do you know whether your processing rates have increased?
In order to answer this question, it might help to determine whether you are sticking with the same provider as the previous rush season. If you are with the same provider, then the best approach is to immediately check your rates, as they may have increased. Check PCI Compliance charges, rate increases, or surcharges.
If you have renegotiated your account with the same provider as last year, then you need to verify the rates.
Make sure you are receiving the rates you were promised by the new provider if you recently changed providers.
Related: Mobile Payments Help Your Business Grow.
Legitimate Fee Increases
Do keep an eye on MasterCard, Visa, and American Express, which do change rates from time to time. There may be some increase in assessment fee. Typically your effective rate should not increase more than 0.03% year on year. If you do see any higher increase, it’s time to double check with your provider. You want to make sure these are legitimate increases.
Related: How to Determine if You Are Paying Too Much in Credit Card Processing Fees.
Calculate Effective Rates
Calculate effective rates for 6 months. It is a good idea to compare them. Get the rate from the same months in the previous year.
If you calculated the same processing rate as before, it means there are no drastic changes in your rates.
If there is a significant increase in the calculated rate, it is crucial to determine what rates have changed or any new fee introduced in your statement over the last year. You can get exact details from your merchant account provider.
It is in your best interest to identify assessment/access fee, per-transaction fees, MC license fee, or virtual terminal fees. You may also want to check up on your monthly fees, including PCI Compliance fees, statement fees, and gateway fees.
Related: Reduce Credit Card Processing Costs Successfully.
Make sure all the planning and rate checking is done well in advance before customers come calling. To learn more, read my previous post “Check Your Credit Card Processing Rates Before The Holidays.“. It will be an eye opener if you have never don’t regularly check your processing rates.
Contact Us for more information on Credit Card Processing, or eChecks and ACH Transactions. Or take us up on our FREE Merchant Account Analysis offer. We’ll analyze your merchant account rates and let you know how to Save! If you are ready, you may be able to Switch and Save!