Merchant Cash Advance Blog

American consumers have come to expect that they can buy almost anything online. One item that's still traditionally purchased on-site, however, is automobiles. That may be about to change. 

General Motors plans to release a web-based application called Shop-Click-Drive to its entire dealer network sometime before the end of the calendar year, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal. The app will allow new-car buyers to access prices, trade-in values, financing applications and much more from their computers. Shoppers can even use the application to arrange test drives and deliveries of new vehicles.

Retail outlets would do well to begin preparing for the holiday rush as soon as possible. Consumers may be spending more purchasing gifts this season than they have in any recent years past.

Retail sales during November and December are expected to increase by roughly four percent when compared to figures from 2012, for a projected revenue of more than $600 billion, according to a report from the National Retail Federation. Holiday sales in 2012 had increased from previous years by 3.5 percent, and the ten-year average holiday sales growth is 3.3 percent, indicating that this years increase will have more customers rushing to credit card payment processing terminals than ever before.

"Our forecast is a realistic look at where we are right now in this economy - balancing continue

Consumers may not be ready to purchase the majority of their products and services from their smartphones - but businesses are quickly preparing for the day when they will. 

Smartphone use is nearly ubiquitous among American shoppers: More than 90 percent of consumers currently use the devices, compared to the 66 percent who reported doing so during 2012, according to the 2014 Mobile Payments State of the Industry Report, published by Mobile Payments Today. Additionally, 93 percent of respondents noted that they've used their smartphones to access the internet, up from the 65 percent who did so during 2012.

Businesses have long used coupons to help them sell products and drive traffic into stores. There may still be a large untapped market of consumers who want to use coupons, however - shoppers connected to their mobile devices.

Smartphone coupons are becoming mainstream, driving both dollars and new consumers to brick-and-mortar retailers, according to a report from Business Insider. However, less than one percent of all consumer packaged goods coupons distributed in the United States during 2012 were digital, suggesting that many companies are failing to grasp the possibilities offered by distributing promotions through mobile devices.

Electronic payments made through credit cards and debit cards can improve the efficiency and the convenience of consumer transactions. Shoppers greatly appreciate the ability to make payments through these means - and many service providers are rushing to allow them the ability to do so. 

Approximately half of the parking meters in Scranton, Pennsylvania, for example, have recently been updated so they can accept payments through credit card and debit card processing terminals, according to a report from Nexstar Broadcasting. City leaders explained that the change was necessitated by widespread shopper support for credit card processing as a preferred mode of making payments.