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May 8, 2023
POS Essentials
Payment options are constantly changing, but a POS helps you support quick and seamless transactions of all types. Curbside pickup, delivery, QR codes, contactless payments, gift cards—a modern POS system enables you to meet customers where they are, accept all payment types, and tailor your service to fit patrons’ changing needs without missing out on new revenue streams.
If you’re still counting inventory manually, it’s time to upgrade to a point of sale system. When you scan an item’s barcode at checkout, it’s automatically taken out of your inventory. With all your inventory data being logged digitally, you’re able to:
With this information, you’re empowered to order top sellers in bulk to save money and better control your margins to maximize profit.
With a cash register, every customer needs to come to your checkout counter to complete their purchase, limiting your flexibility and creating long lines that strain employees and hurt customer satisfaction.
But if you have a POS that enables mobile payments, you gain the freedom to ring up purchases wherever your customers are. If there are a lot of shoppers at checkout, you can send additional employees to check customers out, dramatically reducing wait time and engaging your guests on a more personal level.
Your POS system enables you to take payment processing outside your brick-and-mortar, too. As long as you have a portable, connected device with you, you can make sales wherever you need to, no matter how far from your brick-and-mortar location. This is a great option for festival booths, pop-up locations, food truck services, and, a bit closer to home, curbside pickup. Bring customers’ items to their cars and run credit cards right in the parking lot. This is a great way to make your store more accessible and convenient for all your customers.
Is your return process easy for both customers and staff members? Return rates are high, and a POS makes it fast and simple to complete these types of transactions. Search for customer purchase histories—even if they don’t have a receipt—return items to your inventory automatically, and designate final sale products as non-refundable in your system.
It can be challenging to keep track of all your orders, especially if you’re working across multiple channels (in-store, online, pickup, delivery).
Whether you run a store, a restaurant, or a service business, a POS can give you complete visibility into status and location for every order, plus help you plan ahead with preset information, including delivery zones, associated fees, and pickup and delivery windows.
For service-based businesses that depend on appointments, including salons and automotive shops, a POS enables you to input, track, confirm, and change appointments with ease. Set shifts and employee schedules, double book a staff member when needed, rebook appointments from a customer’s history, email follow-up and appointment reminders, and more—all within your POS’s appointment system.
What would you do if the internet goes down when you have a long line of customers waiting to pay? Without an internet connection, you can’t process credit card payments. Do you turn away patrons who don’t have cash on hand? Do you close your store and lose sales until the internet is restored?
A POS with offline processing makes it possible to continue accepting card payments, even if you lose connection to the internet. Simply enable the offline feature and continue scanning as usual. Your POS will store purchase data and process payments when it comes back online. Plus, you can limit transaction amounts if you’re worried about delayed processing.
POS systems offer elevated levels of service with improved accuracy, speed, and personalization. Input orders quickly—including any required modifiers the POS system prompts for—while customers can verify their information on a customer facing display. With a POS system’s customer management features, team members pull up a patron’s information and purchase history with a few taps of the screen using only a phone number—facilitating a more tailored, personal approach to service that encourages repeat business.
With a modern POS system, you can make staff management easier:
Cut out the extra steps involved in typical operations upkeep. Use your POS to get to know your team better, provide support where needed, and spend more time taking care of your primary retail responsibilities. Plus, your employees will appreciate working with a standardized, predictable system.
With a POS, it’s simple to implement a loyalty program. All it takes is a few pieces of information like a customer’s name, email, and phone number. You’ll get to set up point value and redemption parameters before customers can then earn points on every purchase—no on-hand loyalty card required. Simply locate the customer in your system, see how many points they have, and apply points to their purchase with just a few taps of the POS screen.
A major benefit of a POS system is the built-in customer database. Build your customer list using loyalty program incentives, then use it to market to your existing base and increase sales. You’ll be able to send customers promotional emails for products they’ll love based on their purchase histories or even select certain patrons for special offers (double loyalty points, for example). Having an incentive to buy from your business helps drive traffic through your doors and provides an excellent customer experience—all enabled by your point of sales system.
Do you run multiple sales simultaneously? It’s often difficult to keep track of what’s discounted and when. A POS can help. Select which items you want to discount in the system and input how long you want the sale to last. You can even designate different types of promotions like buy one, get one (BOGO) or mix-and-match specials. This eliminates the hassle of price confusion at checkout—everything’s in the system and rings up automatically ensuring the line moves swiftly. Plus, you won’t have to manually set up sales using a pricing gun anymore, giving you more time to focus on your larger business goals.
It’s easy to keep track of vendors, billing and invoicing, and purchase orders (POs) with a POS. Create POs within the system, and when the items are received, simply scan the barcode, type in the quantity received and the total paid—and your inventory is updated instantly! You also have visibility into how much you’ve paid vendors for the same items over time to monitor costs. Additionally, a POS integrates with your accounting software, making it quick to create and send professional invoices and monitor payments received.
A POS has robust reporting capabilities giving you maximum visibility into all aspects of your business. For example:
Data like this can give you the insight you need to make profit-boosting decisions that grow your business.
A POS system is essential for modern businesses and comes with so many benefits. If you’re not using a POS yet, you can see why it pays to take advantage of the features that your competitors are benefiting from.
But not all POS systems are built the same. You need to find the right fit for your business.
Electronic Payments offers Exatouch®, a leading point of sales system for retailers, service providers, and restaurants. If you’re new to the world of POS, Exatouch comes with an added benefits you might not get elsewhere—like 24/7 technical support. Whether you have a line of customers waiting to pay and you can’t get your terminal to work, or you want assistance with downloading the latest software to access your POS system’s newest features and capabilities, you want an experienced team you can rely on to solve any issue that may arise.
A POS empowers you to manage your business more effectively, streamline operations, and grow. It’s an invaluable tool for any merchant looking to maximize profits and automate daily tasks. Learn more about our customizable POS systems tailored to your business’s unique need—get to know the Exatouch POS.
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Have you ever felt that your concerns were not heard? Or your needs were not met? Or you were let down? Or, have you been overly impressed? Pleased with a tech support call resolution? Or had an awesome experience with one of our sales representative, ISO Offices, or Relationship Managers?
It can sometimes be difficult to get an answer or a sensitive ear for an issue you may be having. Or, you may just need help reaching the right department. Who handles paper shipments? Who programs my equipment? What if I don't like my sales rep? How do I reach your CEO? Sometimes, it just helps having a direct email address which goes to a person that can "get the job done."
The Ombudsman is a position at Electronic Payments that is your conduit to the proper channels and persons that can field your request, answer your need, and receive your compliment. Fill out the form below and we'll try our very best to assist you as quickly as we can.
Comments, compliments, criticisms and problems... Please don't hesitate to let us know!
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We're human, promise! And your issue is important to us. While this is an auto-response, a real human has received this email and will direct it to the right department so you can get the attention necessary to help with your request. We'll be in touch soon. In the meantime, here are several avenues of help we offer:
Technical Support Help Desk (24/7):(800) 966-5520 Option 3
Merchant Support Center:www.merchantsupportcenter.com
Customer Service (M-F, 9am - 6pm EST):(800) 966-5520 Option 4
POS Help Center:help.exatouch.com
Talk to you soon,The Electronic Payments Team
Copyright© Electronic Payments, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Electronic Payments is a registered Independent Sales Organization of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., Concord, CA and Commercial Bank of California, Los Angeles, CA.Electronic Payments is a Registered MasterCard© TPP American Express may require separate approval.
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Offer: If an Eligible Business joins Electronic Payments' Cygma platform between 7/1/24 and 9/30/24 and processes a minimum of $500 in Mastercard card transations within thirty (30) days of joining the platform, the Eligible Business will receive a $50 Mastercard Prepaid® Card, while supplies last ("Offer").
Eligibility: This Offer is open only to U.S. businesses that are created under the laws of the U.S. and are incorporated or otherwise considered a valid legal entity in good standing in its state of formation as of the start of this Offer through gift award ("Eligible Business"). For purposes of these Terms, the following parties are collectively considered the "Released Parties": Electronic Payments, Inc. ("Sponsor"), Mastercard International Incorporated ("Mastercard"), Mastercard customer financial institutions, credit unions, alliances, processors (collectively, "Mastercard FI"), and teamDigital Promotions, Inc. ("Administrator"), and each of their respective parent companies, affiliates, retailers, distributors, subsidiaries, Gift providers and advertising/promotion agencies. Void where prohibited by law. By participating in this Offer, Eligible Businesses: (a) agree to be bound by these Terms and by the interpretation of these Terms by Sponsor and by the decisions of Sponsor, which are final and binding in all respects; and (b) acknowledge the Eligible Business is in compliance with these Terms.
Offer Period: The Offer begins at 12:00AM Eastern Time ("ET") on 7/1/24 and ends at 11:59PM ET on 9/30/24, or while supplies last, whichever comes first ("Offer Period"). The designated computer clock of the Administrator is the official time-keeping device in connection with the Offer.
How to Qualify for Offer: During the Offer Period, Eligible Businesses must join the Electronic Payments' Cygma platform (https://electronicpayments.com) and process a minimum of $500 in Mastercard card ("Card") transactions within thirty (30) days of joining the platform. Purchase transactions involving PIN-based Debit and international transactions, or other transactions requiring a PIN for completion, are not eligible for this Offer. Purchases made from international cards, unauthorized card use or those made with lost, stolen or fraudulent cards, or from transactions that require a PIN for completion are void. Only purchase transactions made with an eligible Card for an account that is in good standing at time of purchase and issued by Mastercard to an identifiable Eligible Business (as set forth herein) and that are processed and submitted through Mastercard's U.S. transaction processing system during the Ofer Period are eligible for this Offer.
Gift Details: Upon completion of this process (and verification by Sponsor), a $50 Mastercard Prepaid® card ("Gift") will be emailed to the first two thousand (2,000) Eligible Businesses who qualify. Each Eligible Business will receive their Gift within six (6) to eight (8) weeks after the Offer Period has ended. Limit one (1) Gift per Eligible Business. If the number of Gifts issued exceeds the number of Gifts available, for any reason, including technical, computer, seeding, human or other errors, the Released Parties reserve the right to award the listed number of Gifts based on the time and date stamp in which the $500 in Mastercard card transations are processed. Gift will be awarded in the Eligible Business name. No transfer, assignment, cash redemption, equivalents, or substitution of Gifts, except by Sponsor due to Gift unavailability, or other reasons determined by Sponsor, and then for a Gift of equal/greater value. Offer Gift may not be redeemed for cash. All Gift details not specified in these Terms will be determined in Sponsor's sole and absolute discretion. Gifts details and availability are subject to change and provider's rules and restrictions, and in the event that Sponsor is unable to provide the recipient with his or her Gift, the Sponsor may elect to provide recipient with the approximate value of such item in cash or award an alternate item of comparable or greater value. All Gift(s) are awarded "AS IS" and without warranty of any kind, express or implied (including, without limitation, any implied warranty of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose). Gift recipients will be solely responsible for all federal, state and/or local taxes, and for any other fees or costs associated with the Gift(s) they receive, regardless of whether they, in whole or in part, are used. Unclaimed Gift(s) will be forfeited. The Offer Parties are not responsible for and will not replace any lost, mutilated, or stolen Gift(s) or any Gift that is undeliverable or does not reach the recipient because of an incorrect or changed address. The Released Parties are not responsible for and will not replace any lost, mutilated or stolen Gifts. Mastercard Prepaid® card restrictions apply: http://prepaidcarddisclosure.com/US.
Privacy: The participation in this Offer constitutes your agreement and consent to these Terms, participation in this Offer and your consent for Sponsor to obtain, use, and transfer your business name, business email, business phone number and other information for the purpose of administering this Offer, awarding the Gifts and to comply with applicable legal requirements. Released Parties are not responsible for late, illegible, lost, stolen, incomplete, late, misdirected, mutilated, delayed, garbled, damaged, inaccurate or undelivered Gifts or other communications or information (collectively, "Data"), defect/delay in transmission or communication; inaccurate or incomplete information; theft, destruction or unauthorized access to, or alteration of Data; or for telephonic, human or computer failures, problems or errors, interruptions in service due to system upgrades, repairs, modifications or other causes; failures or malfunctions of connections, satellite, network, cable, Internet Service Provider (ISP), phones, phone lines or telephone systems, traffic congestion on the Internet, technical or mechanical malfunctions, or other malfunctions or errors, whether caused by equipment, programming, human error or otherwise relating to or in connection with the Offer, including, without limitation, errors which may occur in connection with the administration of the Offer, the cancellation or postponement of the Offer, for any injury or damage to any participant's or any other person's computer or other device relating to or resulting from participation in this Offer, or for printing, typographical, human or other errors appearing in these Terms or other Offer-related materials; electronic equipment, computer hardware or software failures; or inaccurate Gift and/or other information, whether caused by equipment, programming, human error, or otherwise. The Released Parties are not responsible for and will not replace any lost, mutilated or stolen Gifts or any Gift that is undeliverable or does not reach the recipient because of an incorrect or changed address. If, for any reason, the Offer (or any part thereof) is not capable of running as planned for reasons which may include, without limitation, infection by computer virus, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures, or any other causes which may corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity or proper conduct of this Offer, then the Released Parties reserve the right at their sole discretion to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the Offer in whole or in part. The Released Parties are not responsible for electronic communications that are undeliverable as a result of any form of active or passive filtering of any kind, or insufficient space in an recipients email account to receive email messages.
Force Majeure: In the event the Released Parties are prevented from continuing with the Offer by any event beyond its control, including, but not limited to, fire, flood, pandemic, epidemic, earthquake, explosion, labor dispute or strike, act of God or public enemy, communications or equipment failure, utility or service interruptions, riot or civil disturbance, terrorist threat or activity, war (declared or undeclared), interference with the Offer by any party, or any federal, state, or local government law, order, or regulation, order of any court or jurisdiction, or other cause not reasonably within Released Parties' control (each, a "Force Majeure" event or occurrence), the Released Parties shall have the right to modify, suspend or terminate the Offer.
Release: By participating, participants agree to be bound by these Terms and agree that Released Parties and their designees and assigns and all of their respective officers, directors, employees, shareholders, representatives and agents shall have no liability and agree to waive, release, indemnify, defend and hold harmless the Released Parties from and against any and all claims, liability, costs (including attorneys' fees), losses, damages, fines or injuries (up to and including bodily injury and death) of any kind arising out of or related to: (i) participation in the Offer; (ii) any acceptance, possession, misuse or use of any Gift (including, without limitation, losses, damages or injuries to consumer's or any other person's equipment or other property, or to their persons; (iii) the Released Parties' violation of rights of publicity or privacy, claims of defamation or portrayal in a false light or based on any claim of infringement of intellectual property; and (iv) any typographical, human or other error in the printing, offering, selection, operation or announcement of any Offer activity and/or Gift.
Disclaimers: The Released Parties are not responsible for the actions of participants in connection with the Offer, including participants' attempts to circumvent the Terms or otherwise interfere with the administration, security, fairness, integrity or proper conduct of the Offer. The Released Parties reserve the right, at their sole discretion, to disqualify any Eligible Business found to be tampering with the participation process or the operation of the Offer, or to be acting in any manner deemed by the Released Parties to be in violation of the Terms, or to be acting in any manner deemed by the Released Parties to be unsportsmanlike or disruptive, or with intent to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass any other person and void all associated redemptions and/or registrations. CAUTION: ANY ATTEMPT BY A PARTICIPANT, YOU OR ANY OTHER INDIVIDUAL TO DAMAGE OR UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THE OFFER IS A VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS, AND SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, THE RELEASED PARTIES RESERVE THE RIGHT TO SEEK DAMAGES AND OTHER REMEDIES (INCLUDING ATTORNEYS' FEES) FROM ANY SUCH PERSON TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW. Sponsor reserves the right, at its sole and absolute discretion, to disqualify (or terminate the Gift of) any individual who is found to be, or suspected of, acting in violation of these Terms, or to be acting in an unsportsmanlike, obscene, immoral or disruptive manner, or with the intent to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass any other person. Sponsor can void Offer from any Eligible Business believed to exhibit fraudulent behavior or any attempt to corrupt or impair the administration, security, fairness or proper administration of this Offer.
Choice of Law: All issues concerning the construction, validity, and interpretation of these Terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Florida (and federal laws, as applicable), without giving effect to any choice of law or conflict of law rules that would result in the application of the laws of any jurisdiction other than the laws of the State of Florida and applicable federal laws.
Arbitration: Except where prohibited by law, as a condition of participating in this Offer, Participant agrees that: (1) any and all disputes and causes of action arising out of or connected with this Offer, or any prize awarded, shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action, and exclusively by final and binding arbitration under the rules of the American Arbitration Association and held in New York County, New York; (2) the Federal Arbitration Act shall govern the interpretation, enforcement and all proceedings at such arbitration; and (3) judgment upon such arbitration award may be entered in any court having jurisdiction. In arbitration, there is no judge or jury and review is limited. The arbitrator's decision and award is final and binding, with limited exceptions, and judgment on the award may be entered in any court with jurisdiction. The federal or state law that applies to these Terms will also apply during the arbitration. Disputes will be arbitrated only on an individual basis and will not be consolidated with any other proceedings that involve any claims or controversy of another party, including any class actions; provided, however, if for any reason any court or arbitrator holds that this restriction is unconscionable or unenforceable, then the agreement to arbitrate doesn't apply and the dispute must be brought in a court of competent jurisdiction in New York, New York. The Sponsor agrees to pay the administrative and arbitrator's fees in order to conduct the arbitration (but specifically excluding any travel or other costs of Participant to attend the arbitration hearing). Either party may, notwithstanding this provision, bring qualifying claims in small claims court. In the event there is a discrepancy or inconsistency between an arbitration provision contained in any Card terms and conditions, and the terms and conditions of these Terms, these Terms shall prevail, govern and control and the discrepancy will be resolved in Sponsor's sole and absolute discretion.
Limitation of Liability: BY PARTICIPATING, EACH PARTICIPANT AGREES THAT TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW: (A) ANY AND ALL DISPUTES, CLAIMS AND CAUSES OF ACTION ARISING OUT OF OR CONNECTED WITH THE OFFER, OR ANY GIFT AWARDED, WILL BE RESOLVED INDIVIDUALLY, WITHOUT RESORT TO ANY FORM OF CLASS ACTION; (B) ANY AND ALL CLAIMS, JUDGMENTS AND AWARDS WILL BE LIMITED TO ACTUAL THIRD-PARTY, OUT-OF-POCKET COSTS INCURRED (IF ANY) NOT TO EXCEED FIFTY DOLLARS ($50.00), BUT IN NO EVENT WILL ATTORNEYS' FEES BE AWARDED OR RECOVERABLE; (C) UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WILL ANY ENTRANT BE PERMITTED TO OBTAIN ANY AWARD FOR, AND ENTRANT HEREBY KNOWINGLY AND EXPRESSLY WAIVES ALL RIGHTS TO SEEK, PUNITIVE, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR SPECIAL DAMAGES, LOST PROFITS AND/OR ANY OTHER DAMAGES, OTHER THAN ACTUAL OUT OF POCKET EXPENSES NOT TO EXCEED FIFTY DOLLARS ($50.00), AND/OR ANY RIGHTS TO HAVE DAMAGES MULTIPLIED OR OTHERWISE INCREASED; AND (D) ENTRANTS' REMEDIES ARE LIMITED TO A CLAIM FOR MONEY DAMAGES (IF ANY) AND ENTRANT IRREVOCABLY WAIVES ANY RIGHT TO SEEK INJUNCTIVE OR EQUITABLE RELIEF. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE LIMITATIONS OR EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY, SO THE ABOVE MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.
Miscellaneous: The invalidity or unenforceability of any provision of these Terms will not affect the validity or enforceability of any other provision. Headings are solely for convenience of reference and will not be deemed to affect in any manner the meaning or intent of the documents or any provision hereof. In the event that any provision of the Terms is determined to be invalid or otherwise unenforceable or illegal, the other provisions will remain in effect and will be construed in accordance with their terms as if the invalid or illegal provision were not contained herein. The Released Parties' failure to enforce any term of these Terms will not constitute a waiver of that provision. Participants agree to waive any rights to claim ambiguity of these Terms. Headings are solely for convenience of reference and will not be deemed to affect in any manner the meaning or intent of the documents or any provision hereof. In the event there is a discrepancy or inconsistency between disclosures or other statements contained in any Offer-related materials, privacy policy or terms of use on any website, social media platform or application and/or the terms and conditions of the Terms, the Terms shall prevail, govern and control and the discrepancy will be resolved in Released Parties' sole and absolute discretion. The Terms may be modified and/or we may cease offering the Offer at any time. YOU AGREE THAT WE MAY NOTIFY YOU OF OTHER TERMS BY POSTING THEM (OR IN ANY OTHER REASONABLE MANNER OF NOTICE WHICH WE ELECT), AND THAT YOUR PARTICIPATION IN THE OFFER AFTER SUCH NOTICE CONSTITUTES YOUR AGREEMENT TO THE NEW TERMS. These are the terms and conditions that are applicable to the Offer, which may be revoked by Sponsor, including the reduction or elimination of Gifts, at any time, for any reason, with or without notice.
Sponsor: Electronic Payments, Inc., 7800 Congress Avenue, Suite 112, Boca Raton, FL 33487.