The pros and cons of payment options.
In a recent Marketscale interview, the question ‘is cash still king?’ was posed to Barbara Castiglia, Host at Modern Restaurant Management.
The obvious answer is no due to the pandemic-related boost to cashless options and steps towards a tech-savvy world but be careful. Castiglia says “it comes as no surprise the people that are most comfortable with that are younger, people who are very connected to smartphone technology, and the ease of ways that you pay for things.”
Whilst cashless options are fantastic for some demographics and most of us got a lot more comfortable with ordering and paying online during Covid, could you, as a restaurant, be doing a disservice to others or even indulging in discriminatory practices by only offering that?
Castiglia thinks so…
“The lesson for restaurants right now is to understand all of the different payment options out there. Know what these options are, and work towards having all these options available for your guests… restaurants must be one of the leaders in this.”
Profit-wise, it’s often seen to be cheaper to complete transactions in cash due to a lack of charges but it is estimated by Richard Crone - chief executive of payments at Crone Consulting - that the handling and processing of cash can add up to 10% in overhead costs for restaurants.
Conversely, cashless options help us navigate labour shortages, operate more efficiently and can even create safer workplaces that deter criminals from businesses that never have any cash on site.
However, they also aren’t for everybody and being strictly cashless can be seen as elitist. These options also carry hefty processing fees and can even slow down the time it takes to make a transaction if it requires a staff member to produce a POS machine.
When deciding what's best for your brand, it’s worth considering a few factors - the demographic of your guests, location and venue type.
The future is cashless, but is it entirely cash-free? That remains to be seen.
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