EPOS firm suggests looking beyond bill payments for footfall
BILL payments may not be the footfall driver some retailers believe it is, an EPOS firm has claimed, with low commission rates and smaller baskets calling the conventional wisdom into question.
The Retail Data Partnership claimed that while offering bill payment services in store drives footfall, customers using such services “typically have significantly smaller baskets than others”, meaning some retailers may not make any money from offering this service.
Stephen Burnett, managing director of The Retail Data Partnership, which supplies EPOS systems to over 2,000 stores throughout the UK, has claimed retailers would be better served by cutting loose low-margin and low-turnover items which take up counter space.
“This could include services such as utility-top-up and bill payment terminals which often bring less lucrative customers to your store.
“It can also include products in any category that are not relevant to your customer base.
“To take the guess work out of the equation, look at the best-sellers and category margin reports on your EPOS system,” he said.
Burnett said the two key considerations for retailers should be focusing on the number of visits to their store and the margin achieved on the baskets bought.
To this end, he suggested retailers steer their focus away from bill payments as a footfall driver and towards loyalty schemes which will keep customers coming back.
“Look for EPOS suppliers who can offer you a wide range of integrated third party suppliers such as Zapper or Yoyo, and their own loyalty scheme. There’s no point in having a loyalty scheme that doesn’t enable you to see the history of your customer’s purchases from you,” he said.
