New research carried out by Elavon, one of Ireland’s leading card payment providers, identifies key challenges facing small and medium retailers (SMRs). The research highlights the important role of technology in helping them to grow their business and cut back on time spent on administration.
Elavon’s study shows the majority of small business owners as driven by passion, with 88% of its respondents saying they love running their own business. However, almost four in five respondents worry about their cash flow and 58% spend more than 14 hours a week on administration.
Eric Horgan, Elavon’s Ireland Country Manager, said of the company’s findings, “Our success as one of Ireland’s leading card payment providers to SMRs is dependent on supporting the needs of businesses around the country. Understanding the issues facing business owners is key to providing solutions that make it easier to do business.
“This research highlights how technology can help SMR owners to save time; cut down the administrative burden and let them get on with the job of serving their customers. The move from cash to cards has created a massive opportunity for SMRs, increasing the speed of processing transactions, reducing cash handling fees and improving security.”
One issue Elavon’s research highlighted was the change in how customers are paying for goods and services. Card payment transactions have grown by 24% over the last 5 years. The Central Bank of Ireland has reported that debit card transactions doubled in the same period, and Visa has determined that contactless payments have reached more than 2 million transactions each week.
Elavon recommends talech, a tablet-based integrated POS system, to help SMRs to manage these aspects of their business.
Eric Horgan said: “The majority of retailers have still to fully exploit the potential of what technology can do for them. Although new technologies may seem daunting to some more traditional SMRs, almost all of those surveyed agree that getting paid quickly for card transactions was crucial to running their business. talech, in association with Elavon, enables businesses benefit from new technology and helps SMRs overcome challenges in the running of their day to day business.”
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