ShopKeep, a startup that makes checkout software for brick-and-mortar stores, has a new deal for new customers: Free equipment that allows them to accept mobile payment methods such as Apple Pay, in addition to a new, more secure type of credit card.

The equipment, which will cost current ShopKeep customers $259, includes a technology called near field communication, or NFC, that allows customers to pay using information stored on their phones. Apple Pay and Google Wallet use this technology as the backbone of their payment products.

Perhaps more importantly, the equipment can also be used to accept a new type of credit card — known as EMV chip cards — that are currently being issued by credit card companies in the U.S. to help reduce credit card fraud. The EMV card technology, named after the original technology developers Europass, MasterCard and Visa, has been common in Europe for a decade and makes cards harder to clone than the traditional credit cards that are still common in the U.S.

The giveaway underscores the fierce competition among young companies such as ShopKeep, Square and Poynt, as well as bigger players like First Data, to get small businesses to ditch their clunky point-of-sale equipment for newer, modernized checkout software and hardware. It also highlights the lead these businesses are taking in trying to convince small businesses that they should upgrade their equipment in order to accept the new type of credit cards that big retailers have been gearing up to accept.

“We see ourselves as the IT departments for these growing merchants so we want them to have the latest technology,” said Norm Merritt, ShopKeep’s co-CEO.

Merritt admitted that ShopKeep merchants, of which there are currently about 11,000, haven’t been knocking down his door demanding NFC equipment to accept Apple Pay. But he believes mobile payment methods such as Apple Pay will become more popular in the future and that more small businesses will then want to accept it.

He also said the giveaway, which should help merchants reduce fraud liability from fraudulent card purchases, aligns with the company’s mission of supporting small businesses. Beginning in October 2015, liability for credit card fraud will sit with whichever entity — the issuer or the merchant — is still using the less-secure equipment.

The common belief in industry circles is that small businesses will be slower to upgrade their equipment to accept chip cards than big retail chains because of the equipment’s cost and the relatively low rate of fraud in their stores. Merritt believes that ShopKeep is significantly reducing the friction that is stopping them from upgrading.

ShopKeep is based in New York City and has 170 employees. It charges businesses $49 a month, per register, to use the ShopKeep software to manage transactions, inventory and customer information. Its software is made to run on an iPad, which it sells along with cash drawers, receipt printers and other equipment used by restaurants, bars and specialty retail shops.

ShopKeep businesses can use any credit card processor to accept credit and debit card payments. In theory, a business could use Square as its payment processor and ShopKeep as its software provider. Merritt, however, says this is rare.

Square said last month that it would begin taking preorders for a $29 device that would allow merchants to accept chip cards. The device does not include NFC technology and does not include a keypad like ShopKeep’s that can be used by chip card holders to punch in their PIN to authorize a transaction. These PINs are commonly used in conjunction with chip cards in Europe, but some U.S. banks are allowing their customers to initially provide their signature in place of a PIN.

Is Small Business Saturday just a bunch of hype?

According to a study done by The National Federation of Independent Business and American Express, 88 million consumers were “Shopping Small” on November 29th, up 14.9 percent from just a year ago. U.S. consumers who were aware of Small Business Saturday spent $14.3 billion with independent retailers and restaurants on the day, an increase of 2.1 percent from $14 billion in 2013. That’s good. Unfortunately, the average person who shopped on Small Business Saturday spent $162, down 11.5 percent from the previous year. Though average spending was down, the study concluded “overall spending was boosted by strong awareness and the sheer volume of shoppers supporting their local businesses on the day.”

And let’s face it: awareness was strong. Politicians were everywhere showing their love of the small business voter. President Obama shopped for books at a local retailer. The U .S. Senate, 40 state governments and 450 cities passed resolutions and proclamations celebrating the merchant. Thousands of neighborhood communities championed the cause. Hundreds of larger companies were official supporters and the bigger ones, like American Express (the event’s main sponsor), FedEx and Microsoft fashioned marketing campaigns directed at their small business customers.  Everyone seemingly jumped on the train.

But not every retailer was awed. “I was very disappointed with sales during the weekend,” said Wayne (Soni) Aylsworth, owner of Empire Outdoors, a Michigan based sporting goods shop. “and I’m not holding my breath for holiday sales.” Becky McCray, owner of Allen’s Retail Liquors in Alva, Oklahoma had a similar experience. “Sales were only up a tiny bit.”

Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday…are these days just hype? Marketing gimmicks? PR campaigns that benefit just the just the big names on the backs of the small merchants who are lead to believe that they can sit back and enjoy a surge in sales that day just because American Express says so? Yes. But that’s OK. American Express has done a fantastic job turning this day into a national event. But in the end, it’s up to you, the small business owner, to take advantage of it. And to really take advantage of Small Business Saturday you have to approach it with a different attitude. So here’s some advice for next year: think of Small Business Saturday not as a day of sales but instead as an opportunity to use your technology to collect data that will help you grow sales throughout the year. How? Start at the cash register.

ShopKeep, is a mobile point of sale (POS) system that works on iPads. It is one of a growing number of new and powerful technologies that are enabling the small merchant to truly take advantage of days like Small Business Saturday. (Note: ShopKeep and others mentioned in this article are clients and/or partners of my company but none have compensated me to write this piece). Great applications like ShopKeep allow your employees to get out from behind the counter and interact with customers in the store. Using an iPad you can ring up sales, suggest other items, manage your inventory, collect payments and, most importantly, better manage your customers. Anyone who walks into your store because they were made aware by Small Business Saturday is a potential long term customer. A good mobile POS system allows you to collect information from them, track what they buy and then leverage the data.

You can integrate it with customer relationship management (CRM) systems like Salesforce.com and Zoho to make sure no one ever gets forgotten. You can encourage sign-ups for gift card and loyalty programs that work with your POS data or start sending out monthly newsletters with popular e-mail services like MailChimp and Constant Contact to draw your community back to your store throughout the year. You can report from this data to track your best customers, your top selling items, transactions by hour and which customers are buying what products.

“As a former local retailer myself, I know that the goal is really strong growth throughout the year, not just on certain “local shopping” days of the year,” says Jason Richelson, Founder and CEO at ShopKeep. He’s right. ShopKeep tells me that their typical customer experiences a 12.5% increase in sales year to year after implementing their mobile POS system. It’s because these merchants use the technology to collect information and then use that information to better market to their customers and community.

So if you want to make next year’s Small Business Saturday a success, forget that day’s sales. Instead, focus on the data. Use that awareness and collect as much information as you can using a good mobile POS system from anyone that walks into your store. And then have a plan for communicating with them throughout the entire year. That way your holiday season can be the initial step towards increasing sales over the next twelve months.