I was at the grocery store a couple weeks back shopping for the necessities. After checkout, I headed for the exit and there was a table of Girl Scouts selling their cookies. Since I was a kid, there hasn’t been a year that has gone by that I haven’t bought some Thin Mints, Caramel Delights or another one of their fantastic cookies. Of course, they still come around and sell door to door, but grocery store stands have become a popular set up for their business. When you come to their table you can’t resist purchasing a box or two or three …
Unfortunately, with just $5 in cash in my wallet, I only purchased one box. This is not an uncommon occurrence, since I hardly ever have cash on me and usually pay for everything with a credit card. These days, it seems that just about every restaurant or business accepts credit cards as payment, with the exception of the rare business out there that still does not want to make the switch.
After purchasing my box of Caramel Delights, I thought to myself that if they accepted credit cards, I would have probably purchased multiple boxes. According to a 2014 report by Bankrate and Princeton Survey Research Associates International, 50% of Americans carry $20 or less every day, and 9% don’t carry cash at all.
A couple days later I ran across an online article about Girl Scouts who were accepting credit cards via the payment company Square. In the article, Square was excited about the opportunity, saying: “We love when sellers use Square in creative ways. As you can imagine, their customers are equally as excited that they don’t have to carry cash anymore.” A mother of a Girl Scout added: “I think 90% of people who weren’t carrying cash turned around and bought something when they heard we took credit cards.” Also in this article, there were a few Twitter users sharing their excitement:
- “Girl Scouts take payment by Square now. The future is here and my account is devastated”
- “Girl Scouts are hip now with the Square so they can force me to pay no matter what”
- “Girl Scouts operating with Square is one of the better things that’s ever happened in the cookie game”
With this in mind, think about how you are currently accepting payments from your customers. Are you offering them a way to pay online? Giving your customers the option to pay securely on their own terms, just like the Girl Scouts did, makes you easier to do business with.