Merchant Cash Advance Blog

Mobile applications are helping consumers make payments more efficiently than before. However, they may also aid businesses in another way - by making their consumers more loyal.

Recently, Wanda Young, vice president of media and digital marketing at Walmart, told audience members at the Mobile Marketing Association's SM2 conference that consumers who download the retailer's mobile application spend more money than the average consumer, stated a report from Mobile Commerce Daily - and not just throughmobile credit card processing terminals. The executive also stated that consumers who downloaded their branded mobile application were twice as likely to shop in-store at Wal-Mart as the average consumer. She feels that mobile applications with attached credit card processing solutions benefit both retailers and shoppers.

Business owners are constantly aiming to innovate in the e-commerce sector - determined to offer consumers what they crave before they even ask for it. However, as online shoppers are becoming more savvy, they're also becoming more demanding. 

Online shoppers are asking for more services and features from the online retailers they frequent, according to the results of a recent study conducted by ComScore and UPS Canada. Consumers want much more than low-priced products and efficient online payment processing options - they also want increased transparency and a seamless returns policy, among many other factors. 

In past years, the vast majority of businesses accepted credit cards through payment processing technology. However, the percentage of businesses who accept electronic payments has dropped significantly in recent years, suggesting that many retailers may be losing a percentage of their customer base. 

More than 30 percent of small business owners currently don't accept credit card or debit card payments, according to a recent report from the National Small Business Association. In 2010, less than 10 percent of small business owners didn't accept credit cards or debit cards, indicating that recent advances in technology have led many business owners to abandon a highly efficient mode of credit card processing. 

An updated tax rule is causing restaurants to rethink the practice of adding automatic tips to the tabs of large parties.

Starting in January, the Internal Revenue Service will begin classifying those automatic gratuities as service charges—which it treats as regular wages, subject to payroll tax withholding—instead of tips, which restaurants leave up to the employees to report as income.