As a pet-care business owner, you have a lot on your plate: employees to manage, daily tasks to complete, emails to send, furry friends to care for, and customers to please. Keeping track of all of your bookkeeping on top of that can add stress to your day and leave room for mistakes, which might be a headache later on. So how can you streamline your payment processing without cutting corners? 

At Gingr, we want to make running your business as easy and successful as possible. That’s why we’ve included integrated payment processing in our software so that you can efficiently keep track of your finances. 

Automating your payment processing has several advantages and is the ideal choice for any growing business, especially if you’re looking to save time so you can get back to doing what you love. Let’s take a closer look at what integrated payment processing is and how it can benefit your business!

What is Integrated Payment Processing?

Before taking a closer look at all of the benefits that integrated payment processing can offer your pet-care business, let’s define what integrated payment processing actually is and what it can do. 

Integrated payment processing is a one-stop-shop for all of your financial needs. With the right system, you can handle in-person and online transactions, manage payment information, offer package deals, obtain deposits, and more — all from one convenient location. 

Ultimately, integrated payment processing helps your team run more efficiently and offers convenience to your customers. Rather than sifting through spreadsheets, turning down certain credit cards, or losing track of payments, you can use pet-care business software to seamlessly handle everything for you. 

Here’s a glimpse at what a payment portal might look like in your pet-care business software:

Still not sure if your business needs integrated payments? Take our quiz to find out!

6 Benefits of Integrated Payment Processing

Now that you have a better understanding of integrated payment processing, let’s dive into some of the benefits for your small business.

Enhance customer experience.

One of the best ways to grow your business is to improve your customer experience. Ensuring that everyone who walks through your door leaves with a positive feeling can keep them coming back again and again. 

There are lots of ways to enhance your customer experience, including providing friendly service, offering the best care to your furry friends, or having reasonable prices. But there’s one other important aspect of a fantastic customer experience: convenience. That’s where integrated payment processing comes in. 

Integrated payment processing makes it easier and faster for customers to pay, which will speed up your check-out process and ensure that your customers don't have to wait in long lines. Using Gingr's software, you can accept all types of payments, even if you’re checking out your customers curbside! 

Gingr’s software will also prompt customers with an option to tip, making it more convenient for them to tip your staff for their hard work. In fact, this type of prompt can increase your tips by at least 10%.

The convenience of integrated payment processing is one huge benefit of using this type of transaction in your small business. Why not provide the best customer experience you can?

Save money.

Every small business owner thinks about how they can increase their profits. Integrating your payment processing can effectively help you save both time and money. 

How long do your employees typically spend tracking payments? Probably too long! In the flurry of pets coming in and out of your facility, keeping track of every payment can get difficult and might even lead to more mistakes. If an employee does make a mistake, you’ll have to sift through spreadsheets and receipts to try and resolve it. Plus, if you’re relying on a third-party payment processor, fixing these mistakes might take longer than necessary.

Any growing business doesn’t have the time to track payments manually. Your employees are already busy enough caring for all of the furry friends in your facility, so you don’t want to bog them down with unnecessary financial paperwork. Investing in integrated payment processing makes it easy for employees to accept payments and ensures no one is working late nights trying to wrap up loose ends.

Make fewer mistakes.

Human error is a natural part of any business, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn't try to minimize it as much as possible. With manual payment processing, mistakes are bound to happen, and taking the time to correct them can lead to impatient or unsatisfied customers. 

However, automating your payment processing means less room for human error. Your payment and accounting processes no longer have to function separately. With an integrated system, you can bring these two financial necessities together for a more streamlined approach. 

And a bonus: Gingr’s software is designed just for pet-care services. We understand the unique needs of pet-care businesses and have designed our software with features tailored to your business. This way, you won’t have to worry about adapting another software to fit your financial requirements — everything with Gingr is already good to go.

Improve security.

The last thing you want to worry about is a security breach of your customers’ sensitive information. Not only would this problem be a major headache, but it might also cause you to lose your customers’ trust in your business. 

Integrated payment processing alleviates this stress. With the right tools, your customers’ payment information doesn’t have to leave your protected software. Gingr’s payment processing is PCI compliant and uses point-to-point encryption to protect your sensitive data. Your customers can even keep their credit cards on file without having to worry.

If security is one of your top priorities, then integrated payment processing might be the right choice for you to keep your business and your customers safe.

Streamline your check-out process.

Have you ever wished that your hectic end of the day schedule was a little less stressful? Between a long line at check out, cleaning up the facility, and staff members preparing to clock out, it's easy for important payment information or tasks to get lost in the shuffle. 

With integrated payment processing, you can streamline your check-out process so that the end-of-the-day rush is easier than ever. You can save customer credit cards on file, so payment only requires the push of a button. Once the payment is processed, you can easily send paperless receipts to your customers for their own records. Overall, these integrated payment features can reduce your overall transaction time by 50%!

Additionally, Gingr's software has a huge suite of other features that can keep you organized throughout the day. For instance, Gingr’s report card feature can give pet parents an idea of what their furry friends did throughout the day and how they behaved. You can also make notes of which toys and leashes belong to which pets so that everyone has what they need at check-out time.

Add variety to your payment and purchase options.

Integrated payment processing also allows you to offer a variety of payment and purchase options to your customers. This variety is a great way to build loyalty among your customers and to provide as much convenience as possible. Some of these options include: 

  • Subscriptions: Got a loyal customer? Consider offering subscription packages that allow customers to set up recurring appointments with your business. 
  • Discounts: Whether you offer a first-time discount or are running a holiday special, you can easily process discounts using your integrated payment processor. 
  • Mobile payments: Did you know that 79% of customers prefer contactless payments? With your integrated payment processor, it’s easy to allow customers to pay on their mobile devices.  
  • Loyalty rewards: Does your business offer a loyalty program? If so, Gingr’s integrated payment processor can help you keep track of each customer’s status. And if you don’t have one yet, Gingr can help you set one up!
  • Curbside payments: With the uncertainty surrounding the pandemic, some of your customers might not want to enter your facility. Integrated payment processing makes it easy for customers to pay from their cars, which can help keep everyone safe. 

Having multiple payment and purchase options helps you build your brand and demonstrates that you put customers first. Ultimately, your pet-care business software should offer all of the features that you need, including for processing payments.

Integrated payment processing can go a long way to improve your business and set you up for long-term, sustainable growth. By staying organized and effectively managing your finances, you can spend less time on administrative tasks and more time with the pets in your care. 

Want to learn more about the other benefits of pet-care business software? Check out these additional resources:  

Learn more about how integrated payment processing can help your business!