How ATMs can help towards supporting retailers and the new living wage.
From April 2016, the government will be introducing a new mandatory national living wage (NLW) for workers aged 25 and above, that will lead to a £910 per annum increase in earnings for a full-time worker on the current national minimum wage.
And for small retail businesses – this change in the National Living Wage could create a major deficit in the bottom line. Now is the time to start thinking SMART about what you can do to ensure your employees, your customers and your business aren’t affected by this change.
Cost cutting will be the first thing that comes to mind, but let’s flip this on its head and think about what we can add to encourage increased footfall, spend, loyalty and ultimately a healthy bottom line.
Nowadays customers have high expectations of their convenience experience and recent studies show that over 70% of customers expect additional services to be offered at their local store. This could be Post Office facilities, parcel collection, bill payment systems and cash machine service (this makes us happy). An ATM service was in the top 10 of services expected in a customer’s convenience experience and at YourCash HQ – we had to think about how this could help to support the small retailer.
Everyone likes the idea of a ‘one stop shop’ – we are all very time restricted and are in a rush and go mode most of our day…so why not think about what you can offer your customers to encourage multiple re-visits and regular drop ins…and customers with cash in their hand will go onto buy. But it’s not all about the ATM – it’s more about customer service and choice! With intergrated services for your customers – it will allow your business to become the hub of the community…and that’s got to be good for you and your business!
Some ideas…
Parcel collection and drop off services are getting more widely used, with the likes of MyHermes offering their ParcelShop service via businesses across the UK – why not get in touch and see what this additional service can offer your business…remember it’s about getting people into your store.
And then there’s the ATM – with an ATM you’ll not only offer your customers a secure means to access their cash, but for you it means reduced banking fees (in some cases £1,000’s a year) and cash recirculation – meaning your customers will be more likely to go on to spend more in your store…we all normally need milk or chocolate! And this all helps to add to the bottom line – cost reductions and increased basket spend – all in the floor space of an A3 sheet of paper…!