During the pandemic, it is now common to see convenience fees in many industries and businesses - for grocery delivery and pickup, restaurant delivery and pickup, to help cover increased overhead costs for sanitizing and other regulation.

The other "convenience fee" that is becoming more mainstream is a fee for the convenience of using a credit card.  In technical terms, it is called surcharging, but many business owners think of it as a fee passed on to the customer for the convenience of using a credit card vs paying in cash.  Typical fees charged are 3.99%.  On a $10 sale that translates to roughly .40 cents per transaction.  

While this seems like a relatively small amount, for a business when you add that up over all your credit card transactions, now we are talking some real money.  For a customer with $50,000 in monthly credit card sales, this translates into ~ $2,000 savings in credit card fees per month or $24,000 per year!  Now that gets a person's attention.  

More than ever, consumers are using online ordering/delivery/pickup services to buy their groceries. 

And now that they are used to the convenience and ease of ordering, grocery delivery services are here to stay.  It's fast, easy and customers are often willing to pay more for this service.

According to a recent article from Business Insider:

I recently found this in the Mettler Toledo Scale Newletter: 

"Metrology is the science of measurement, and the scientific tool at the heart of every service counter transaction is the weighing scale."

Here is a list of terms that affect precision measurement for all of in-store weighing solutions:

One of our processing partners, Clearent, offers insights to the differences between the Daily Discount and the Monthly discount for credit card fees and why it might be useful during this economy:

The Power of Daily Discount

With the acceptance of eWIC, many independent grocers are scrambling to make this transition.  One of our grocery POS Vendors, Auto-Star, provides grocery retailers an efficient method of accepting eWIC cards, while offering customers a quick and convenient checkout experience.

The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) provides federal grants to states for supplemental foods, health care referrals, and nutrition education for low-income pregnant, breastfeeding, and non-breastfeeding postpartum women, and infants and children up to age five.  Previously, these funds were distributed by checks that could then be used to purchase nutritional items from authorized grocers.

The new eWIC program replaces paper vouches allowing nutrition and food benefits to be processed like a debit card, integrated into the grocers point of sale.  Benefits include:

• Faster throughput at the checkout
• Improved customer service
• Fewer errors compared to check cashing
• Increased privacy and security for WIC participants
• The ability to purchase items over multiple visits
• Minimal cashier training
• Seamless inventory management

“We are excited to offer the eWIC integration to supermarkets across the country as part of our commitment to helping independent grocers better manage and grow their business,” said Josh Wintoniak, Sales Manager of Auto-Star.

"Our WIC program is moving from checks to an Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) card we're calling "eWIC." The new eWIC card looks like a debit card and has all of your family’s WIC benefits in one place."

• It's Fast
• Saves time at checkout!
• It's Flexible
• Buy as little or as much of your WIC food at a time!
• It's Simple
• No more paper checks!

Now with eWIC integrated right into the store's POS, it will be easier and more discreet for families to shop. No more separating WIC items at checkout and paying with a paper check.

Watch the video below to see how fast and easy it is to process WIC transactions with integrated eWIC.

During this crisis, business owners are looking at all cost cutting options in order to keep their doors open.  We have talked to our peers in the industry and have learned that many of their customers are turning to different cash discounting programs to reduce or eliminate the cost of accepting credit cards.

We are now offering curbside pickup for paper, ribbons and labels and other misc. supplies on Fridays from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m.

Call the office at 907-243-2683 (Option 4), and we will get your order prepared for you.

The members of the National Grocers' Association have shared a list of their tips.

NGA has compiled the following list of common practices that members have shared with others. Remember, communication with your customers and employees is paramount.

Today the conversation around computers and viruses takes on a whole new meaning.

Elo, the maker of many touchscreen systems in the world, shared these guidelines for cleaning and disinfecting screens.

These methods could be used for all you POS device screens to keep them clean.

This technical bulletin describes the recommended cleaning and disinfecting procedure for Elo products relative to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Included are recommended disinfectant products that are safe for use with Elo products and approved by the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

For those of you that were able to attend, wasn't the Rural Small Business Conference fantastic?  The education was top notch, and we loved getting to visit with friends from across the state and meet new friends!