Continuing our last blog post, here are three additional myths about PCI DSS we believe should be addressed.

1. Using a third-party processor exempts merchants from PCI compliance mandates.  Such an arrangement may decrease merchants’ exposure to risk, making it easier to satisfy the requirements for  validating compliance. However, it doesn’t otherwise exempt any retailer or restaurant operator from PCI DSS compliance requirements.
2. Using PCI-compliant technology at the physical point of sale constitutes PCI compliance by default.  While this may be the case, remember that PCI guidelines also require the implementation of measures to ensure the physical security of networks and payment technology as well as the maintenance of written security policies. Although it is critical that terminals and other point of sale hardware be PCI- compliant, compliance as a whole doesn’t stop there.
3. PCI DSS compliance is just for protecting consumer cardholder data. No, it’s more than that. Data security as a whole is becoming increasingly complex. Most, if not all merchants  have many assets—from human resources records, to proprietary material—to protect.

pcAmerica stands ready to assist retailers and restaurant operators with their PCI DSS compliance. Simply visit www.pcamerica.com.

Okay, so you understand, from reading the last installment of this blog, why it’s so important to achieve PCI DSS compliance. But there still may be one or more myths about PCI DSS and data breaches in general that are holding you back from addressing your own operation’s issues with a trusted vendor, such as pcAmerica. Here are a few common assumptions, debunked.

1.    Data breaches only affect larger retailers and restaurant operations.  Nope—and actually, the opposite is true. “Level 4” merchants, as small retail and hospitality establishments are classified under PCI DSS rules, outnumber their larger (Level 1, Level 2, and even Level 3) counterparts,  making them a more frequent target of cardholder data compromise. Visa has publicly said it continues to identify small merchants as the group most commonly victimized by hackers.

2.    One data breach won’t hurt in the long run. We’d like to say it’s so, but it isn’t; in fact,  a Level 4 merchant must suffer only one confirmed security breach before being forced to meet Level 1 compliance standards—the same ones to which the largest players must adhere. In the Level 1 category, the cost of achieving and maintaining compliance, as well as fines for security breaches, can total millions of dollars.

3.    A low transaction volume doesn’t necessitate compliance. Wrong, wrong, and wrong again—unless your establishment does not accept credit cards at all. Processing even a single credit card transaction each year puts businesses within the scope of PCI compliance.

Find out more about PCI DSS compliance and compliant point of sale systems at www.pcamerica.com. And next up: three more PCI DSS compliance myths.

We hate to be the bearers of bad news, but compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS) designed to guard against breaches of consumer card data continues to be problem for small merchants. Consider the results of a recent poll by the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council, which found that only 29% of small business owners were truly aware of the PCI compliance standards and only 11% were actually in compliance. Meanwhile, statistics released by Visa USA indicate that more than 80% of its non-compliance issues originated the smallest merchants.

Sure, it costs money to become PCI-compliant, but these expenditures pale in comparison to the price of non-compliance. For one thing, the tab for non-compliance begins not when a data breach actually happens, but at the moment a store, restaurant or other establishment is suspected of having experienced one. Depending on the complexity of systems involved, a mandatory forensic investigation by PCI DSS-certified security examiners can bring a business to a halt for several days to several weeks, interfering with sales, profitability, and productivity.  And who gets stuck with the bill for such an examination, no matter its outcome? The merchant or restaurateur, that’s who. And the “damage” can range from $8,000 to $20,000, depending how deeply investigators had to dig and how many different systems they evaluated.

Adding insult to injury, if examiners discover that a breach has indeed occurred, the affected merchant will bear other expenditures, including $3 to $10 per replacement card per individual whose card data was breached; $5,000 to $50,000 or more in compliance fines; and other fines for actual fraudulent use of compromised card numbers. In short, non-compliance expenditures are significant enough to ruin a small business very fast.

The good news:  adherence to the PCI DSS provides a safe harbor from many of the above-mentioned fines and penalties levied, as long as the operator whose system was breached was PCI-compliant at the time of the incident.  At pcAmerica, we take the security of customer card holder data very seriously. To find out more about pcAmerica’s PCI compliant software and how to achieve PCI DSS compliance, visit www.pcamerica.com.

April 29, 2011– David Gosman, Chief Executive Officer for pcAmerica, has been invited to speak at the upcoming Epson Envision Partner Executive Conference at the Waldorf Astoria Resort in Fajardo, Puerto Rico from May 2-5, 2011. This event provides channel partners with a platform to engage with industry experts, discuss business strategy and learn about emerging technologies.

A recognized expert in the integration of social marketing and point of sale technologies, Mr. Gosman’s presentation titled “Making Social Media Work for You” will focus on how Value-Added Resellers (VARs) can teach customers what social media is and how customers can use it to engage effectively with consumers.

Presentation Overview
Your customers are using social networks — is your business?  Everyone now has a voice, every minute of every day.  The social future belongs to businesses who engage in this often feared, often misunderstood arena of communication.  Technology VARs are in a unique position to teach their customers what social media is and how they can engage creatively and effectively with their consumers.  Join our session to discuss topics such as local engagement, socially connected loyalty rewards programs, consumer transparency and tactics of how to engage customers and measure the effects.
To learn more about the use of social marketing in the retail industry, visit www.pcamerica.com/social-marketing.

A few months back, we explained why it’s important for retailers and restaurant operators to blog just as we at pcAmerica do. We hope you took our advice! Now it’s time to look at a few ways to prevent your blog from becoming stale and, as a result, losing some of its following. Here are three strategies to start with; see our next installment for more ideas.

1.    Get the picture. Photographs are not only a great way to make your posts easier to read (they break up the text); they also give readers an enhanced understanding of whatever it is you’re discussing, whether a new product or entire product line that’s now available in your store, a special menu item or even a renovation or expansion. Images also help to draw in and maintain the interest of potential and existing customers who may be so intrigued by what they see that they don’t stop at reading the entire entry, but rather, scroll back to view previous posts and of course, pay a visit to your establishment.

2.    Put in the “pull”—pull quotes, that is. Publications use pull quotes to highlight small nuggets of text to emphasize specific points or “tease” people into reading an article or editorial from start to finish. Like images, they also break up big blocks of text, making blog posts easier to digest. Adding pull quotes to a blog isn’t at all difficult. Bloggers who use WordPress have access to a few plugins they can download to incorporate pull quotes; these include Simple Pull Quote and Graceful Pull-Quotes to help you take advantage of these elements.  You can also create pull quotes in Photoshop and incorporate them into your blog in image form.

3.    Sew up the comments. Many bloggers set up their blogs so that readers can leave “threaded comments”. In a “threaded comment” scenario, readers can reply directly to a specific comment/commenter and see their response displayed directly beneath that comment. This makes for a stronger, livelier dialogue among readers and keeps them coming back to the blog because it is easier for them to check out whatever input others have left in response to what they’ve written. WordPress offers the WordPress Thread Comment plugin to help users convert to the “threaded comments” format.

Blogging is just one way to enter the realm of social marketing to improve repeat business and build repoire. pcAmerica offers solutions that can get you started with social marketing with solutions from behind the counter. To learn more about pcAmerica and social marketing tools visit, www.pcamerica.com/socialmarketing.

In the last installment of this blog, we at pcAmerica offered three strategies for keeping customers coming back. Here are three more.

4.    Pay attention. Acknowledge when a customer might have special circumstances. For example, if parents are dining with some less-than-cooperative children and your restaurant isn’t too busy, do something to distract the youngsters for a few minutes so the adults can enjoy the rest of their meal. Put the kids at an empty table near Mom and Dad and let them color on some placemats. Offer them a closer look at the fish tank. Notice a stressed-out customer in your store? Offer her a hot beverage and a small “harried shopper” discount of a few dollars. Even if whatever you do here only takes a few seconds, the customer will remember it for a long time to come.

5.    Establish traditions and memories customers will associate with your store or restaurant. For instance, if you sell apparel, hold periodic mother-daughter or “girls’ night out” shopping or dining events. Own a pet shop? Invite customers to bring their furry friends to your store for an annual birthday or holiday photo or special party.

6.   Create an experience.  Many retail stores and restaurants businesses today risk becoming viewed as commodities in customers’ eyes. When consumers feeling like they can get a certain level of service or merchandise from any local establishment, they may patronize the competition as frequently as they do your own store or foodservice operation. The only way to prevent this is to create an experience for your customers that they want to keep repeating. For instance, become known as the store that serves them freshly baked cookies and coffee from the best place in town while they shop. Answer or return their telephone calls. Start every conversation by asking them and needs. Provide a postcard about your store or restaurant that they can keep for more information or to send to one of their friends or family members. The options are endless; you just have to find the right one.

Having in place top-notch retail or restaurant point of sale systems also helps retailers and restaurant owners stand apart from the competition. pcAmerica can provide that technology—and much more. For more information, visit www.pcamerica.com.

With consumers continuing to watch their budgets and those who are spending more freely again, becoming increasingly selective about where they put their money down, retailers and restaurant operators must double their efforts to keep customers coming back. Here are a few strategies for moving in that direction:

1. Go the extra mile when people least expect it. Consumers expect—and in many cases, demand—special, often personalized treatment at the most expensive stores and restaurants, but you can garner good results with this tactic no matter what “price category” your establishment is in. For example, if you’re a restaurant owner, take the time to notice if patrons have ordered one of your daily specials. Engage them in conversation about it—and perhaps send over an extra side dish or dessert to top off the meal. If you’re a retailer, talk to shoppers if they’re buying something that touches you in some way—for instance, a card you would have sent to a friend or relative or a book you enjoyed. Add a little perk—perhaps, another free card or a bookmark. These small gestures go a long way to cultivating repeat business.
2. Get them talking.  Holding a unique event or promotion is a great way to generate buzz and get customers into your store or restaurant not just for that particular occurrence, but again and again to see what else you may have up your sleeve. One gift retailer we know held a Halloween promotion and party in which she challenged customers to scour her store’s displays for images of 13 dead famous people. Those shoppers who successfully completed the challenge won a small prize. And don’t forget—leverage social media to get the word out about your plans.
3. Face the truth. In today’s retail and hospitality climate, it’s essential to earn customers’ trust by asking them not just what they like about your establishment, but what they don’t like, and then fixing it. See a customer browsing, but not buying? Invite him or her to sit down and enjoy a cup of coffee or tea with you before easing into a conversation.

A good point of sale system acts as a linchpin for gathering additional information about customers that will almost certainly help you in putting together special promotions, changing your merchandise mix or menu and other moves aimed at cultivating a loyal clientele. pcAmerica’s Restaurant Pro Express and Cash Register Express POS software rank among these systems. To find out more, visit www.pcAmerica.com

Okay, so you accept that QR (quick response) codes will, going forward, play a big part in the marketing of U.S. businesses. Some forward-thinking players have already jumped on the bandwagon; for instance, realtors are putting the codes on “For Sale” signs and in the windows of their storefront offices so potential buyers can peek inside the residences being advertised, while airlines offer passengers the option of scanning QR-encoded electronic boarding passes with their smartphones.

As a retailer or restaurateur, you can be just as innovative, even at the point of sale. Retailers might take a page from the book of Best Buy, which last year began putting QR codes on shelf signs to give shoppers more information about the products displayed at the moment of decision. You could even place QR codes on items at the counter to encourage last minute sales. For stores selling handmade items, scanning a QR code can unleash a video demonstration on how the products are made or an interview with the artist; for those that carry specialty foods, recipes that incorporate the item(s). A QR code or tag placed within a given display can be leveraged to provide a complete listing of all the products in the display, their prices and where they can be found in the store. Restaurants can post a different QR code in the window each day to offer information on daily specials, and/or load detailed menu item descriptions onto a tag that remains in the window at all times. Want more ideas? Integrate QR tags or codes not only into print ad campaigns, but takeout/delivery menus, flyers, brochures, catalogs, newsletters, and the like.

Going a few steps farther, merchants can make a game out of QR codes—for example, placing a certain number of codes around the shop, then granting a discount to any shopper who scans all of them and an even bigger discount to anyone who purchases several of the products. Remember, today’s customers want as much information as they can get—and QR codes are a great way to give it to them.

pcAmerica stands ready to assist with other ways to leverage technology to grow your business. For more information, visit www.pcamerica.com.

Unless you haven’t been paying much attention to the media lately, you’ve no doubt noticed those rather odd-looking, shape-filled squares that have been appearing in print ads and elsewhere. But far from being some type of newfangled design element, these squares—commonly called “QR codes”–are among the next big thing in customer marketing and branding for U.S. businesses, retail stores and restaurants included. How so? With a simple snap of a smartphone, they instantly send valuable information to potential and existing customers—making, for some establishments, the difference between garnering the sale and sacrificing it to a competitor.

“QR” is short for “quick response”, and QR codes are, in basic terms, two-dimensional bar codes that closely resemble the ones to which we’ve all become accustomed. However, QR codes pack so much more power than their simpler bar code “cousins”. The tiny shapes inside QR codes can be read both horizontally and vertically, meaning that when activated, they can launch complex actions, such as opening a web page, downloading a video or sending a text message. They are a way to provide instant information, integrate print and multimedia capabilities, capture data on the spot and otherwise engage customers via increasingly popular mobile technology.

Think QR codes won’t catch on completely, or that they’re a fad? Think again. For one thing, consumers now demand information to the extent that they are scouring online reviews and product descriptions before they even head out to the store. And they want even more of the “411”:  In a 2010 study, Latitude, a Massachusetts consulting firm that researches how new information and communications technologies can be used to improve consumer experiences, found that  that 56 percent of shoppers wanted more product information, such as food origins and ingredients, from the stores they frequent, and 30 percent of the respondents wanted that information delivered to their mobile phone.

What’s more, QR codes are indeed going mainstream, as are smartphones. Data released by Scanbuy, a QR code development and management company,  shows that QR code generation and usage has increased by 700 percent since January 2009, with the number of scans in the U.S. increasing from around 1,000 a day to more than 35,000 a day. According to a comScore MobiLens study released last July, one in four Americans now owns a smartphone, and smartphone adoption is on an uptick. The Nielsen Company offers similar statistics, noting that as of the third quarter of 2010, 28 percent of U.S. mobile users had smartphones, and of people who acquired a new cell phone in the prior six months, 41 percent chose a smartphone. Nielsen predicts that by the end of 2011, there will be more smartphones in the U.S. market than standard-feature phones. Smartphone penetration is highest among persons age 25 to 34, with the second-highest group being age 35 to 44.

In the next installment of this blog, pcAmerica will offer techniques for tapping into the power of QR codes. But in the meantime, take a quick look at www.pcamerica.com to learn how point of sale technology can also help you do a better job of marketing to customers.

Merchandise returns are a way of life in the retail industry, but with the National Retail Federation (NRF) pegging return fraud as costing retailers a collective $9.6 billion annually, it makes sense to take steps to ensure that as many returns as possible are truly legitimate.  A point of sale system, such as pcAmerica’s Cash Register Express, can serve as great ammunition in the fight against return fraud.

How? For starters, you can use the solution to post and display special instructions/notes about habitual “returnees”. When these individuals initiate a credit or debit card transaction, the information is readily available to store employees, who can then take extra steps to scrutinize the return and follow return policies. Have customizable receipt-printing software? Using it to post your return policy on your receipts, and consider changing the messages frequently, minimizes fraudsters’ use of fake receipts.

But this is just the beginning. Your point of sale system can track the number of returns accepted by each sales associate, enabling you to determine if and when a single employee is processing an unusual number of returns. You can then scrutinize the return information closely to ensure that policy is being followed and everything is on the up and up. Similarly, enlist your point of sale system to assign sales associates to different security levels. This lets you determine what information your employees have access to,  potentially eliminating internal return fraud.

Additionally, with a good point of sale solution in place, you can set a cashier return limit, ensuring that you, rather than an employee who may or may not be engaged in fraudulent activities, hold the final authority on bigger-ticket returns. You can view multi-store customer information—in other words, see whether a given customer purchased an item at one store and is then trying to return it at another store. (This alone doesn’t signal fraud, but may cause associates to take a closer look at the return just in case).

Finally, marshal your point of sale system to track return rates by the day, week and month. If the numbers rise significantly, you can take extra measures to examine why. Don’t just take chances with returns; the cost is too high. Let point of sale technology play a role in loss prevention to keep more cash in your wallet.

Visit pcAmerica to find out more about choosing the right point of sale system to fit the needs of your business.