Mr. Miceli Pizzeria and Italian Restaurant is a family owned pizzeria that has served up pizza, salads and pasta to customers in Rockville Centre, New York for the last 35 years. Although the pizzeria offers delivery, take out and quick casual service, it saw its customer base dwindling.  In addition to not having a solid customer base, the restaurant also struggled with inventory control and payment processing security.

Mr. Miceli’s sought help from Long Island POS, which recommended a new POS system from Bematech, a leading point of sale hardware provider and Restaurant Pro Express™, a restaurant point of sale software package that provides fast operation, accurate order taking and dozens of reports through a user-friendly interface.

The positive effects of the new point of sale solution on Mr. Miceli Pizzeria are clear. The POS allows all of the orders—whether they are walk-in customers, delivery or take out– to be inputted and rung up in one system. For the first time, Mr. Miceli can track customers’ order history, safely process credit card transactions, secure the cash on-hand and print a transaction receipt.

Restaurant Pro Express also includes a digital signage capability, which assists with the restaurant’s direct marketing efforts. Long Island POS installed a new LV4000 LCD customer display that gives the pizzeria the ability to display rotating messages about in-store specials, social media mentions or advertising opportunities for vendors.

“I didn’t think it would be so easy to use a system that has so many features,” said Luca Miceli, owner of Mr. Miceli Pizzeria and Italian Restaurant.“It’s like night and day—we are now able to look back at certain days and times and compare the sales figures, which helps us plan staffing needs and maintain appropriate inventory levels. The new system allows us to do things we never could in the past.”

In April, PayPal announced a new partnership with Discover Financial Services that will bring the formerly online-only payment service into bricks and mortar stores. According to Reuters, PayPal will be accepted in approximately 2 million stores that accept Discover credit cards.

Gaining traction in the physical payments market, which Reuters values at $10 trillion, could fuel longer-term growth for the payment company, which has seen its growth slow in recent years.

This is a solid strategy and has been making headlines left and right. But, it begs the question….how are payments going to be processed?

In a test program at Home Depot, PayPal is experimenting with asking people to enter their mobile phone number and a 4 digit pin number that has to be set up online prior to use. This information syncs with the customer’s PayPal account and makes the payment.

Home Depot has to update the programming\software in their pin pad/payment terminals to allow for this. Shoppers may also use a PayPal magnetic swipe card to initiate the payment.

However, the millions of other retailers being cited in the press as now accepting PayPal aren’t getting updates to their payment terminal software. Many don’t even have payment terminals that can support process, which renders the pin number method useless.

Discover and PayPal are getting a lot of attention for this partnership, but the reality of PayPal’s success will hinge on its issuing of plastic cards, which can be processed through Discover’s payment channels. Even then, people will have to be open to using their PayPal accounts and making room for another card in their wallets.

According to Loyalty Management Magazine, 81% of people who belong to a loyalty program aren’t aware of the benefits or when they will be eligible for an award.

It has to be done right, but loyalty programs can but be lucrative for businesses that want to cultivate relationships with their customers. In order to make sure your customers are getting the most out of your business’ loyalty program, consider the following:

Have a multi-tier approach – A loyalty program with different levels and rewards will reward both the casual customer and the more serious brand loyalist.

Establish reasonable reward levels – Don’t let customers become discouraged and lose brand loyalty because the reward levels are too high.

Make it interactive – Allow shoppers to accrue awards faster by linking their activity to their social profile, which elevates your business and rewards users for spreading the word about your store or restaurant.

To keep customers coming back for more, Cash Register Express™ and Restaurant Pro Express™ offer a built-in loyalty program option that supports a variety of currencies, including points, birthday rewards and frequent visitor discounts.

Cash Register Express also integrates seamlessly with The Social Network Appreciation Platform (SNAP). SNAP allows customers to associate their social network accounts to brand loyalty programs and rewards customers with extra loyalty points in exchange for electronic endorsements. These digital endorsements, Tweeted or posted on Facebook walls, are generated automatically after the customer makes a purchase. The result is the viral sharing and promotion of a brand, which translates into increased visibility and sales.

For more information on how you can connect you business with all of your customers and their friends and followers, please visit pcamerica.com or snapforbusiness.com.

A Cornell University study of 470 internet users found that a little less than half of respondents have ordered food online via mobile app or text message. The top reason? Hungry patrons liked the convenience and control they had over the ordering process, while those who have never taken advantage of online ordering preferred to speak to a live person.

It’s probably no surprise that pizza is the most commonly ordered item online. In fact, on Super Bowl Sunday (one of the top five pizza sales days annually), Dominos pizza drivers will cover about four million miles.

The number of people looking to place their orders online is inevitably going to rise, so it’s time to start thinking about how online ordering can enhance your business—especially if you own a pizzeria.

Now included in Restaurant Pro Express™, the online ordering functionality allows diners to enter their orders online through the restaurant’s website, designate whether it’s pickup or dine-in, pay with a credit card before the order is prepared and send the orders automatically to the kitchen. The online ordering capability is restricted based on a restaurant’s operating hours.

The system takes the guesswork out of waiting around for the order to be ready by notifying the customer how long it will take to prepare or deliver their order. Diners may also specify what time they would like the order to be delivered or prepared.

Implementing an online ordering system means reduced overhead for the restaurant and a better customer service experience for patrons. They have more control over the ordering process and can peruse the menu at their own pace, securely process their payments and never waste time on hold or redialing when there’s a busy signal.

For more information about implementing online ordering for your restaurant, please contact a pcAmerica account manager at 1-800-722-6374.

This past January, businesses gained the right to tack on a surcharge of up to four percent for purchases paid by credit card, thanks to a $7.25 billion settlement between card issuers and merchants. The fee does not apply to debit cards and it is illegal to charge the fee in ten states: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Oklahoma and Texas.

If you live in the other 40 states, you’re faced with a decision. It’s tempting to pass on the cost of processing fees to your customer base. Every swipe costs you money in fees and it’s only fair to think that your business should not have to accept less for goods and services because someone wants to pay with their credit card instead of cash or check.

The reality is that surcharge may cost you even more in lost business. Several large retailers, including Wal-Mart, Macy’s, JC Penney, have already argued the new surcharge will compromise their ability to be competitive.

The tech blog Mashable examined this very issue and found that the surcharge question had already been answered in other countries. A study conducted in New Zealand revealed that 90 percent of people would rather buy an item at a different store than pay a surcharge. And in Canada, 95 percent of people said they would take their business elsewhere when faced with a three percent surcharge.

Ask yourself, would you be willing to pay more for goods or services available at another location if you wanted to pay via credit card? Chances are, the answer is no, you would go elsewhere and purchase it for the correct price. And so will everyone else.

Online shoppers are expected to complete billions of dollars in eCommerce transactions this year, but published reports show that seven out of 10 online shopping carts are abandoned before check out is complete.

It’s easy for shoppers to select items and add them to their carts, only to decide to comparison shop for lower prices or shipping rates, or to leave the page after being asked to take multiple steps to complete the purchase. Whatever the reason, it used to be that an abandoned shopping cart was a lost sale.

If you have a high rate of cart abandonment, evaluate your site and make sure there are no major barriers to completing a sale. A well-designed, attractive site that is easy to navigate and make purchases ensures that customers will complete the purchase. The longer it takes for a shopper to add an item to their cart and pay for their selections, the more likely it is that they will change their mind and leave the page without completing the transaction.

Consider putting in place an email system that would proactively try to draw the consumer back to your site to complete their purchase. Send a cleverly worded reminder message a few hours or a day or two after the customer leaves your site. It’s a good idea to keep the cart available for several days or a few weeks, in case people do change their minds.

If the reminder email fails to attract the shopper, you may opt to be a little more aggressive and send the customer a free shipping code or discount coupon. We’ve all considered making a purchase and then decided that the shipping is too much or we could find the product elsewhere. A new incentive might be enough to help someone change their mind.

For more information about how you can enhance your eCommerce site and reduce the number of lost sales, please contact a pcAmerica account manager at 1-800-722-6374.

Paying with credit and debit cards or via mobile wallet is great for the consumer: pick the product, swipe and they’re on their way. No fumbling for change necessary, no impatient customers waiting behind them while they count out the right amount.

However, there is a downside to the swipe and go. A decline in cash transactions means less tips for your employees. The person who may have tossed their change into the tip jar previously can just swipe their card or pay with their phone and leave, causing a decline in tips for people used to dealing with cash like cab drivers, quick-casual restaurant employees and coffee shop workers.

Tips can mean an extra $10-$20 a shift, so the loss of that income can sting. But, there are some new options for patrons who prefer to pay via credit or debit and leave a tip.

Several high-tech tip jars are now being tested in pilot locations. One option, DipJar, allows customers to “dip” their credit cards into a machine to leave a pre-set tip. DipJar does not generate receipts, but a chime tells the patron their tip was accepted. The tips are divided up later and right now, and are not subject to a processing fee.

Ziptip is another company experimenting with electronic tipping. The Ziptip smartphone application gives customers the ability to scan a QR code associated with an employee and leave a little something via PayPal. The gratuity goes into the recipient’s PayPal account for immediate use. Ziptip is already being used in 20 countries.

In March, the Federal Trade Commission’s Division of Financial Practices issued a report on mobile payments. The report cited a survey of 1000 financial services, technology, telecommunications and retail executives which showed that 83 percent of respondents believe that in the next two years, mobile payments would “achieve widespread mainstream consumer adoption.”

The report goes on to detail that in the last 12-18 months, several of the country’s largest and most well-known companies, Google, Intuit, AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, Visa, MasterCard, VeriFone and more have entered or ramped up their presence in the mobile payment arena, and smaller start-ups have entered the fray as well.

Preparing to accept mobile payments now will ensure your business will be ready when—in the not too distant future—the majority of your customers reach for their phones instead of their wallets. Restaurant Pro Express™ and Cash Register Express™ accept payment through Google Wallet, a mobile payment system that stores credit cards, loyalty information and gift cards.

The software also integrates with Paydiant, a software-only, cloud-based solution that gives restaurants and retail stores the ability to accept mobile payments and offers using their existing POS infrastructure. Paydiant’s mobile payment platform allows banks, retailers and restaurants to incorporate mobile wallet capabilities into their own iPhone® and Android™ applications.

pcAmerica’s POS packages also work with ISIS Mobile Wallet, an ultra-secure mobile payment functionality that includes several safeguards against theft or fraud. Users are protected with a remote wallet locking function, a pin-protected wallet and secure element safeguards that protect from counterfeiting cards stored in the wallet.

Please call your pcAmerica account manager for more information about how your business can start accepting mobile payments at 1-800-722-6374.

Throughout history, cash has come in many forms—gold and silver coins, wampum, shells or paper currency—but the ability to buy and sell has been central to societies for centuries.

Although the phrase “cash is king” rings true for many, the reality is, cash has been losing its influential grip for more than 50 years. American Express introduced its first plastic credit card in 1959 and within five years, more than a million cards had been issued. And as experts predict the rise of mobile payments, some are whispering that the era of cold, hard cash may be coming to an end.

It makes sense that as electronic currency gains in popularity, cash will lose market share. CBS News pointed out that credit and debit cards are widely accepted at parking meters, tolls, taxis. Reporter Lee Cowen noted that he could even buy a box of Girl Scout cookies with his debit card.

There are still people who prefer to be paid in cash—it’s unlikely your teenage babysitter accepts Google Wallet or Visa. Cash requires no special equipment and no processing fees, so vendors who sell lower priced items may find it more cost effective to set limits on credit card usage or accept cash only. And although there are many people who don’t even bother carrying cash anymore, there will always be people who are more comfortable paying in cash—people who don’t want credit card companies knowing their every move and those who do not like to carry debt and prefer to pay in full.

Cash also protects us against “catastrophic risk,” according to Pyments.com. Technology isn’t perfect and an entire economy based on electronic currency is at risk if something were to compromise our financial resources.

We’ve seen these events happen already. In April 2012, tech savvy criminals made headlines when they hacked into Global Payments and stole data for more than one million card holders. Just a few months later In June, the Royal Bank of Scotland’s computer system stopped tracking debits and credits at one of their banks after an error was made while updating software. Thousands of people were inconvenienced as they couldn’t withdraw money from ATMs, checks were bouncing and funds were not being deposited.

So, is it the end of cash as we know it? It seems like the answer—for now—is no.

In the January/February issue of RSPA’s connect Magazine, pcAmerica CEO David Gosman is asking businesses to focus more time on social networking. Several businesses have utilized social networking to better connect with customers and ultimately drive sales. Gosman detailed a few low-cost, straight-forward tactics to help your business with social networking.

Gosman’s tactics include, “set small goals and focus” and “pick a person within your company.” Without distinct goals, effectively launching a social presence is difficult. Social networks can be used to provide technical support and customer service. When first starting your social network initiative, Gosman recommends picking one or two individuals who use the sites in their personal life. The other two tactics include “the gifts that keep on sharing,” in which blogs are suggested to gain readership, and “adopt insight into the company,” meaning reading and sharing relevant industry information.

Read the full article here.