Three ways card payment systems help you scale your business
2-minute read
Scale your business with the right card payment systems
Taking card payments has helped business owners Andy and Clare turn their passion for healing crystals into a scalable business. We find out how the Barclaycard customers increased their turnover to more than £300,000 – and how taking card payments could help you to grow your business too.
1. Taking larger payments
At Andy and Clare’s crystal retailing store, The Crystal Barn, customers can purchase crystals for as little as a few pounds. But in the last few years, the business has been in a major growth phase and has begun importing higher-value crystals – which has pushed the average purchase value up to between £160-£200. That’s been underpinned by a move away from cash and toward card payments, says Clare.
“97% of our sales are through our Barclaycard machine. Because we sell a lot of high-value goods, it's really important that this works,” she says. “Without our machine, The Crystal Barn would find it harder to function.”
“Without our machine, we'd find it harder to function.”
2. Moving away from cash
As today’s consumers use less cash, many of The Crystal Barn’s customers expect to be able to pay for their purchases using card, say Andy and Clare.
“We have found that people are carrying less cash nowadays,” says Clare. “Now that our average sale is fairly high, it's not the sort of cash that people would be carrying around, and the card reader also gives us the security of not having to carry large volumes of cash about.”
3. Reliability and support
Any small business owner will know that even the briefest of business downtime can mean a loss of income. For Andy and Clare, having a payment provider that they trust is essential.
“We needed to know that we would have the support and the back-up from a reputable company that wasn't going to disappear on us,” Andy says.
“We needed something with reliability, and that's what we got.”
“I call our Barclaycard reader the silent worker. It doesn't need the toilet, it doesn't need a lunch break. It just works.”
By using a Barclaycard mobile card reader, the pair are even able to take payments at The Crystal Barn’s rural premises, without a fixed telephone line.
“We need a system that works on a mobile phone signal. Because of our rural location we need something with reliability, and that's what Barclaycard gives us,” says Andy. “It really is a life saver.”
Find a payment solution that best suits your business
Whether you're a coffee shop or a crystal retailer, at Barclaycard, we know that taking card payments is a serious business. From in-store to online or mobile to desktop, we have a payment solution for you and your business.
Speak to our payment experts today
08001585149
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