As well as being important for the overall economy of the country, store cards are of immense value to the consumer, providing leeway on spending when economic times are tough. They enable users to maintain a good credit rating, which in turn provides access to other benefits. In addition, in-store promotions and special offers are often only available to store card holders.
In a post Covid-19 world, customers are looking for contactless transactions, remote enrolment and real-time onboarding into credit schemes and other membership programmes, including store cards. Furthermore, they expect all touch points to be digital.
With the advent of tap to pay smart phones where physical credit cards are rendered redundant, consumers expect the same level of convenience at in-store points of sale. But how can a cardless transaction be applied if your customer doesn’t have their store card with them?
No retail store can afford to lose a customer
when they have already made up their mind
about a product offering.
“In the current constrained economic climate, agility and flexibility in the retail sector could be a differentiator between the attraction and retention of customers, and failing to process a sale because of a misplaced store card, simply adds up to lost revenue,” says BitVenture CEO, Junior Biola.
No retail store can afford to lose a customer when they have already made up their mind about a product offering. Having made their selection, they present themselves at the pay point, but patting down their pockets, or searching in their wallet, they find they have left their store card at home. In lieu of a store card, the customer presents their credit or debit card only to find they have insufficient funds.
How does the store then verify that they are a store-card holder and allow the store card transaction to be completed? The answer is to have immediate and real time access to customer information, starting with their ID. In a country that is rife with all manner of cybercrime, fraud and ID theft, falsified hard copy documents cannot be taken at face value. Presentation of alternative verification documents to a store card, including drivers’ licences or even ID books or cards, is not failsafe.
What retailers need is access to a system at the POS that provides real-time verification through the most accurate source, i.e. the SA Department of Home Affairs database, which will allow cashiers to confidently provide credit against a customer’s account and process the sale.
“Store card holders are an important part of any retailer’s customer make-up, and should be nurtured,” says Biola. “Making in-store purchasing, with or without the store card being presented at the point of sale, as easy as possible, especially for loyalty customers, will ultimately save a retailer from losing that customer and detracting from the customer experience. Real-time identification can prevent embarrassment for the retailer and customer alike when a store card is left at home,” he adds. “Employing verification technology in store gives your customers no excuse to miss out on their next purchase, nor the retailer on their next sale, and will only serve to enhance the store’s reputation.”
For more information, on real-time identification, visit www.bitventure.co.za.
