ShopKeep also officially rolled out Apple Pay support on Monday to go along with the new reader. The latest update of the ShopKeep app, version 2.5.2, supports Apple Pay, contactless and magstripe cards.

The company also said it “will support” EMV chip cards sometime before the October 2015 “liability shift” deadline, after which merchants who can’t accept EMV chip cards will be liable for any fraudulent card purchases they accept. ShopKeep didn’t spell out when that will happen; some large banks are already issuing EMV cards, and several big retail chains are already committed to accepting the cards by the end of January 2015.

ShopKeep co-CEO Norm Merritt told Re/code that his merchants haven’t been demanding NFC equipment to accept Apple Pay, but he said he believes as mobile payment becomes more popular, more small businesses will want to accept it. Partnering with Ingenico also means ShopKeep can get an EMV reader into its customers’ hands before Square, which is taking preorders for a $29 device EMV-only card reader.

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.

1. Happy Days are Here Again, part 1

There’s a lot of optimism going around in the world of small business. Here’s the first of three reports that indicate things are picking up. The Wells Fargo/Gallup survey shows small business owners are the most optimistic they’ve been since 2008.

According to the latest Wells Fargo/Gallup Small Business Index:

• 71 percent of small business owners expect their overall financial situation to be very or somewhat good over the next 12 months.
• 26 percent plan to hire in 2015
• 29 percent expect to increase the amount of money they allocate for capital spending.
• 51 percent expect their company’s revenues to increase
• 31 percent expect their operating environment to be better in 2015

That’s not to say small business owners aren’t worried. They have concerns about:

• 22 percent are worried about not being able to pay their employees
• 7 percent are very worried about going out of business
• 14 percent say attracting customers and new business is a top concern
• 9 percent are concerned about government regulations
• 3 percent are worried about the financial stability of their business

Health insurance is a topic that interests many small business owners.

• 88 percent of small business owners currently have health insurance for themselves and their families
• 25 percent plan to offer health insurance options for their employees

2. Happy Days are Here Again, part 2

ShopKeep, a cloud-based iPad POS technology, just released findings from its first quarterly ShopKeep Small Business Index, showing 68 percent of those surveyed are optimistic about this holiday season. Other notable findings include:

• 78 percent expect seasonal sales to be better than or the same as last year
• 81 percent of those planning to hire seasonal employees will hire between 1-3 people
• 84 percent had strong third quarters heading into the holiday season
• 31 percent will extend their holiday hours to accommodate additional traffic

But many (63 percent) of business owners are concerned about the security of their customers’ credit or debit card information, but they were also confident in the security solutions that ShopKeep provides.

To see more of this infographic, click here.

3. Happy Days are Here Again, part 3

This optimistic outlook also shows up in a holiday survey by Ink from Chase. The survey found 40 percent of business owners expect better sales this holiday season. The reasons:

• 61 percent say there’s increased consumer demand
• 45 percent have improved their marketing campaigns
• 49 percent plan to use social promotions to reach customers
• 40 percent credit expanded e-commerce and mobile/online sales efforts

Many small businesses plan to take on big businesses by:

• Fulfilling special requests/orders—62 percent
• Personally reaching out to customers—58 percent
• Creating customized shopping experiences—49 percent
• Offering exclusive products—44 percent
• Offering extended payment options—20 percent

4. Email Amps Up

Email volume usually increases during the holidays. But this year is setting records, at least at Constant Contact. The company reports the number of emails sent to customers this past Cyber Monday was the most ever sent from its servers in one day.

Interestingly, the second most popular day to send emails during Thanksgiving Weekend was the day before Thanksgiving.

Emails sent on Saturday and Sunday increased only slightly. This might be a surprise, considering the initial numbers are pointing to an extremely successful Small Business Saturday 2014.

5. Was Black Friday More Gray Than Expected?

Reports this week indicate that sales on Black Friday were not as high as originally forecast. But, says Stitch Labs, a leading inventory and multi-channel selling solution for SMBs that shortfall may be due to sales shifting—Thanksgiving Day’s share of sales increased 38 percent. Here’s the scoop:

• In 2014, 14.8 percent of sales during the Thanksgiving Day weekend were placed on Thanksgiving Day, up from 10.7 percent in 2013.
• In 2013, Cyber Monday sales made up 37.4 percent of all sales during the Thanksgiving weekend. This fell to 29.2 percent in 2014.

6. Workplace 2015

Want to get the best out of your employees? Brian Shapland, general manager of Turnstone (a Steelcase brand), offers some tips to help your employees be more productive, creative and collaborative.

Accommodate work preferences and needs: Privacy has become a hot topic in the workplace as employers are realizing one atmosphere does not fit all. This is explained in Steelcase research suggesting the best collaborative spaces also support solitude. Build designated areas for group brainstorms, one-on-one meetings, solo work and socializing.

Choice: Arrange the office with different zones to give employees the option to change up their environment throughout the day. Employers can also allow staff to work remotely when it makes sense.

Making employee well-being a priority: Offer height-adjustable desks or active seats, like the Buoy, to offset some of the damage of being sedentary. Make nutritious snacks and water available.

7. Have an Appy New Year

Is getting your financial act together one of your New Year’s resolutions? The folks from Xero want to help. Here’s their list of must-have apps to help you “manage your business and streamline your finances”:

1. MileBug is a mile-tracking app that helps you monitor your miles driven, and how much you spend on gas.
2. Square allows you to accept credit card payments from an iPhone, iPad, or Android device.
3. Tax Jar automates your sales tax return filings, keeps track of local tax regulations and monitors years of payment history.
4. Stitch Labs manages your inventory and automatically syncs all resulting financial data, allowing you to integrate all sales channels, fulfill orders faster and capitalize on inventory deals.
5. Xero is a cloud accounting software like, allowing you to manage your finances on any device, from anywhere. Xero integrates with over 300 business applications.

8. Carpe Diem

There’s so much interesting information packed into a recent survey from Go Daddyexamining the lives and motivations of small business owners. Check out the infographic for a quick overview. Some highlights:

• 83 percent of small business owners are happier than they used to be in their old jobs
• 88 percent are optimistic about their company’s prospects
• 55 percent say their business “kicks ass”
• 67 percent self-financed using savings and credit cards
• 51 percent work from home

9. Amazon Sales Made Easier

If you operate an Amazon store, Shoppost just launched a platform for social commerce you can use to merchandise and sell your products straight from social platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and on blogs.

After seeing products they like in their social news feeds customers can click and go straight to a branded shopping cart and check out. The Shoppost web app also provides an analytics tool.

10. Party Off

Fewer American businesses plan to party this holiday season, according to a survey conducted by Battalia Winston, a leading global executive search firm. Only 88 percent of companies polled will be partying this month, which is down from 96 percent in 2013 and 91 percent in 2012.

This, despite the fact these same companies say they’re “on track to grow and hire in 2015.” Some businesses (14 percent) aren’t having parties because their now remote workforce is scattered across the country.

Those companies that are throwing parties are limiting the guest list to employees only (70 percent) and 62 percent aren’t giving out holiday gifts.

11. Oh, Give Me a Home

According to a Zillow Mortgages analysis, the self-employed get 40 percent fewer purchase loan quotes, primarily because of their typically lower credit scores. The survey revealed self-employed borrowers receive six loan quotes for every 10 received by non-self-employed borrowers. Self-employed mortgage shoppers are about twice as likely to report a FICO® score below 680 (lenders recommend a credit score of at least 740 to get the best mortgage interest rates).

All this, despite the fact self-employed borrowers report 81 percent higher household incomes ($145,000) than non self-employed ($80,000).

12. Can’t Get No Satisfaction

Speaking of homes, most Americans are not satisfied with theirs, says a new report from The Demand Institute, a non-profit think tank formed by Nielson and The Conference Board. The report, America’s Top 10 Housing Needs and Desires, introduces the concept of the “Housing Satisfaction Gap”—the gap between what Americans have today and what they say they need or want:

• Increased Energy Efficiency: 71 percent of households say this is important
• Aging-Friendly Homes: 65+ aged households are growing 10x faster
• Affordable Housing: Nearly 40 million households face a housing “cost burden”
• More Space for More Stuff: 49 percent those planning to move want more space than they have

13. What’s In a Name?

Verisign just released its latest Domain Name Industry Brief offering some insight on global domain registrations and trends. Verisign found:

• 4 million domain names were added to the Internet in the 2nd quarter of 2014
• .com and .net are in demand, growing to a combined total of approximately 128.9 million domain names (113.7 million names for .com, 15.2 million for .net)

For more information, copies of the Q2’14 DNIB and past reports can be obtained at VerisignInc.com/DNIB.

14. There’s No Such Thing as Tech Overload

A lot of business owners are concerned that using the cloud can lead to distracted employees and decreased productivity. But, according to a new study by IT solutions provider Softchoice, today’s employees aren’t overloaded with technology—in fact, employees with access to more technology and cloud applications are the happiest and most productive. Here are some of the study’s highlights:

• 74 percent of employees who use cloud apps are happy at work, compared to 19 percent of non-app users
• 85 percent of heavy cloud app users (using more than 6 apps) feel they have an optimal work-life balance, compared to 59 percent of non-app users
• 96 percent of employees who use 6+ cloud apps feel productive at work, compared to 77 percent of non-app users

The head of another USA point of sale software firm which came to Belfast in February said that the company is set to expand must faster than first anticipated.

When Jason Richelson, founder and chief executive of ShopKeep POS, originally set up in the city earlier this year, his first expansion outside of America, the plan was to create 35 jobs over three years in a £3m investment

However, he said that there are now already 21 staff in the office at Alexander House on Ormeau Avenue and that the original jobs figure will definitely be exceeded.

“I will be back in Belfast on Thursday,” he said. “Our experience has been amazing so far and we are already looking to expand.

“We love it and we want to grow. We have built a great culture and we have recruited some really smart engineers.

“The fact that a firm like Revel has followed us to Belfast shows what great people and what great opportunities there are here.

“While I am in Belfast I will be meeting with Invest NI to see what we can do and how we can grow with them and work on a plan.”

The Brooklyn-based businessman said that he was keen to let the rest of the world know the benefits of trading in Belfast.

“I love how entrepreneurial the culture is, and that is something that I saw when I first visited Belfast in October 2013.

“There are really hardworking people and a strong engineering culture.

“The city is not enormous but it has huge potential.”

Mr Richelson ran his own grocery and wine store and developed ShopKeep in 2008 to solve some of the problems he was facing in his own business.

He initially began selling the software to coffee shops and bakeries and the product is now being used by more than 10,000 small businesses in the US and Canada.

Mr Richelson added that having more than one PoS software firm in Belfast would be good for the wider tech workforce.

“Our team in Belfast are software engineers so we won’t be competing directly for jobs with Revel,” he said. “Having lots of different software companies and jobs available really does help the entire community, and even if we may end up competing for some individuals in future, there are always new technologies and skills to learn, young people coming into the workplace can get more experience, it helps everyone.”

He added that if the company expands out of the current premises, he still would like to see the main office based in the city centre.

Small Business Saturday holds plenty of promise for Amanda McClements, who this month opened her second boutique home goods shop in Washington.

In a unique twist, it may hold even more promise for one of her first employees.

Mallory Shelter, who still works weekends now and then at McClements’ Salt & Sundry stores, will hold a trunk show at one of the shops on Saturday afternoon featuring her growing line of handmade jewelry — an important opportunity for an entrepreneur working to turn a longtime hobby into a sustainable business.

“Obviously there’s a sales component, but it’s more about the exposure,” said Shelter, who works full-time in public relations while also selling jewelry she makes in her home in the District. “Jewelry is such a hard thing to sell online, because it’s very personal, so to be able to meet with customers face-to-face and explain to people my process and my story is such an amazing opportunity.”

Shelter isn’t the only online seller who will have a storefront to work from this weekend. American Express, which started the Small Business Saturday campaign in 2010 to steer shoppers toward locally owned stores on the day after Black Friday, this year teamed up with online marketplace Etsy to link home-based artisans with brick-and-mortar retailers willing to host their trunk shows and help them nab a slice of the more than $36 billion Americans are expected to spend this weekend.

Others local businesses hosting trunk shows include Covet Arlington in Arlington, Va. Shop the Muse in Frederick, Md., and the Cheeky Puppy in the District.

Over the past few years, the holiday has gained momentum and captured the attention of Washington’s leaders, with President Obama visiting a different local bookstore to support the campaign each of the past three years. McClements, who opened her first store two years ago in D.C.’s Union Market, said the store enjoyed “a very noticeable bump” in foot traffic last year, including a visit from Attorney General Eric Holder and his family.

Most importantly, though, the Small Business Saturday campaign seems to have “made more shoppers think about where they are spending their money and whether stores are locally owned,” McClements said, noting that patrons increasingly check with her to make sure the Salt & Sundry shops aren’t part of a large chain.

On Saturday, those customers will have a two-for-one opportunity of sorts, with the chance to shop at two locally owned businesses in one stop. And for McClements and Shelter, this isn’t the first time they have leaned on one another.

“We have kind of gone through this small-business experience together, where she was launching her first store and I was trying to establish my unique brand and decide whether or not to really start selling my jewelry,” said Shelter, who was one of McClements’ first hires when the original store opened in November 2012.

A former food and lifestyle writer in Washington, McClements started thinking about opening the store a year earlier — while holiday shopping — when she couldn’t find a shop in her neighborhood that brought together all of her favorite items. “Someone said to me, why don’t you just open it yourself,” she recalls. Now three years later, she recently unveiled her second location on 14th Street NW.

Shelter, meanwhile, has been tinkering with her craft since high school, when a family friend shuttered her jewelry business and passed some of her supplies, stones and trade secrets to Shelter. It was merely a hobby until a few years ago, when Shelter started taking metal-smithing classes in the District.

“That really did it,” she said. “It reinvigorated this love I had for jewelry.”

She started selling earrings and necklaces to family and friends last year, and she eventually started an Etsy store online, which quickly took off. Since then, she has sold several hundred pieces through Etsy, her own site, craft events and several wholesale accounts with boutiques in D.C., Maryland, Tennessee and Pennsylvania.

Her first line was sold in Salt & Sundry, which helped open the door to the other accounts. It would have been much more challenging to break into the retail space without that first connection, she said.

“All of us are trying to build our own small businesses in our own way, and there are opportunities to collaborate and create mutually beneficial relationships,” she said.

Cha-ching – that’s the sweet sound of success in retail, baby! And with throngs of customers visiting your shop around the holiday time, you want to make it as easy as possible for them to buy. Try one or more of these strategies to make your cash register ring right along with those sleigh bells.

Invest in Your Infrastructure

Improvements in three key areas yield good returns – beyond closing sales:

1. Upgrade or install an mPOS system: If you already use a mobile point of sale (mPOS) solution like ShopKeep or Square, check for upgrades and make them before the rush. If you have a traditional POS system, explore adding mobile functionality. And if you don’t have a POS solution at all, now is the time to invest in one.The right POS bundle does more than ring up sales. “With the cloud, tablet point of sale systems make it easy to understand everything that goes on in the store,” explains Brian Zang, vice president of sales and marketing at ShopKeep. “At the highest level, it can tell me things like what items sell the best and which don’t, and how much staff should I have and on which days. These are critical decisions that can really affect margins.”

   POS systems also allow you to accept more forms of payment, and with mobile options, you or an employee can complete sales from anywhere in your store – perfect for when there’s a very long line at the checkout. And mPOS makes it easy to accept payments at fairs and expos, and to collect important customer information so you can follow up after the event.

2. Gather customer insights: Learning more about who is buying from you is exponentially easier with a good POS system. There have been “advancements in understanding customers’ preferences and buying behaviors, and using that when communicating with them is critical,” Zang says. It allows you to be proactive in bringing your customer base into the store, letting you tell them you have what they want instead of waiting for them to come in on their own. “It’s a great way to get ahead of seasonal events,” he adds. “For instance, you can send an email inviting people to come in and shop before the holiday rush.”Customer data also lets you engage more effectively when customers are in the store. “With a name or email address, you can see past purchase history and use that information. ‘I know you were looking for X when you were here earlier. Here’s something you’re going to love,'” Zang explains. “Customer data on favorite colors, birthday, etc., makes selling – and buying – easier.”
3. Make your Web site responsive: Research shows a lot of people use mobile devices to simplify their shopping, especially at the holidays. According to IBM, 19.1 percent of all e-commerce sales in December 2013 took place on a cell phone or tablet, up three-fold from December 2011. The company estimates that in November 2014, 20 percent of online sales and more than 43 percent of Web traffic will come from mobile devices.That’s why it’s critical to make your Web site “responsive” so it works well on any device and platform. Does that concept intimidate you? Engage with a local digital marketing expert to do the heavy lifting.

Ensure a Better Customer Experience

Next, turn your attention to the customer experience:

1. Hire smart: “According to a June 2013 Gallup poll, nearly 70 percent of employees are not engaged. What kind of experience is a disengaged worker going to provide to a prospective customer?” asks Randi Busse, co-author of Turning Rants into Raves: Turn Your Customers on Before They Turn on YOU! “Probably not a very good one, which is why many customers walk out of a retail establishment without making a purchase – and that’s a bad or indifferent customer service experience.”The antidote? Hire employees who think and act like owners, says Busse. “When there is a culture of ownership, it’s a pleasure doing business with the company. Customers go out of their way to visit the retailer, are willing to pay more for a good experience, and are inclined to share their experience with their family and friends. Explain to employees that the customers are the ones who pay their salary. If we don’t treat the customers well, they may not come back. If they don’t come back, we won’t have a need for your employment.”
2. Be a consultant: Great salespeople facilitate shopping, helping customers to get answers, explore options and make decisions.Embrace the Race, a brick-and-mortar and online retailer of horse-racing apparel, accessories and housewares, offers a personal shopping service in the store and online. “This personal touch allows customers to browse and then contact a personal shopping assistant to help put together packages,” explains Mike DeAnzeris, president and founder of the Saratoga, NY–based company. Sales associates spend between 12 and 17 minutes, asking questions to assess needs and preferences and then making recommendations for an individual item, an entire outfit or a gift package. “The human interaction in fashion shopping can never be replaced. Our customers appreciate and are put at ease knowing they have a team that can help.”

   Kristie Glenn owns Blue Labels Boutique, an online clothing retailer based in San Antonio, TX. She offers her customers the opportunity to chat online. “It gives them the opportunity to get an immediate answer to a question about a product, or to inquire about something they’re looking for,” she says. “It’s good for my store because it’s like walking up to the customer and asking, ‘How can I help you today?’ It makes the customer feel like they are walking into a store and they have a specialist who can help them.” She uses Tidio Chat, which is integrated into her Web site. Glenn keeps the app up all day so she can respond immediately. “It can help to drive sales by being able to give and receive instant feedback,” she adds.

   Another way to do this is through your email marketing: Instead of sending promotions, share information that helps your customers and makes you a valued resource – not just a place to buy stuff. Better yet, use your email as a chance to introduce your employees, so customers have someone to look for when they come into your store.

3. Help customers save time: For many consumers, time is at a premium around the holidays, so helping them shave a few minutes is often enough to ensure loyalty. Allow shoppers to call in their orders or buy online and pick up in store. “It shows that we truly value our customers’ time and want to make it easy for them,” explains Gillan Hawkes, director of omnichannel for Staples. “Customers like it, because it ensures the things they want will be ready for them within two hours when they come into the store. They won’t have to waste time-fighting the crowds. Also, it’s a safe, secure and convenient place for customers to have their items delivered – especially important during the holiday season.” 

   Another way to make the shopping experience less stressful is to create a sitting area for companions who don’t want to browse; some stores and shopping centers even offer childcare. Another nicety: Offering self-service coffee, cocoa, water and snacks to provide an energy boost to weary holiday shoppers.

Instituting all these tactics may be too ambitious this holiday season, so pick one or two that are both doable and high-impact. When (or if) things slow down, add others so you’re increasing sales all year long – and are ready for next year’s holiday shopping season.

For a long time the prevailing narrative on Main Street America was one of seemingly inevitable decay, in which local mom-and-pop shops were destined for obliteration at the hands of monolithic big-box retailers and impersonal e-commerce players.  ‘Why shop local when you can shop cheap?’ seemed, for many, simply too compelling a question to ignore – and Walmart and Amazon reaped the benefits.

So what was underlying this dramatic shift towards larger scale enterprises?  The answer is that big-box retailers and chain restaurants were able to dominate our business landscape through technology.  Technology for payments, inventory management, detailed data analytics, automated payroll, and a whole lot more.  Simply put, they had access to tools that enabled them to provide a consistent customer experience across the country; that constantly optimized prices; and that allowed retailers to maintain a ruthless control on their operating costs.

The problem for your local Mom & Pop was, of course, that this technology cost a small fortune. I started and spent many years running retail stores before I founded ShopKeep, and I remember my first point of sale systems costing well over $10,000.  And that was just for hardware.  I had to pay for the software, and the security patches, and I could only access sales data in the basement of my store.  The kicker?  If anything went wrong, I had to pay for customer care, too!  The prevailing business model of technology providers at the time was to secure as much money upfront as possible and then ‘cut and run’ by making you pay for customer care.  Needless to say, this structure favored the larger companies, who could swallow these costs.

The Good News? Times Have Changed.

The advent of cloud-based technology has dramatically lowered upfront hardware and software costs and made data more available than ever before.  What’s more, it now seems like a new start-up pops up every day with technology targeted at small business owners. Innovation has been ceaseless, competition has grown, and the price point has been driven downwards.

[Tweet “The advent of cloud-based technology has dramatically lowered upfront hardware and software costs.”]

Now, a new local entrepreneur can access a whole range of services and tools that would have previously cost tens of thousands of dollars on day one.  Services like point of sale systems, scheduling and payroll, gift cards and loyalty services, accounting and bookkeeping, and billing and invoicing are now available for less than the price of a good meal.  In fact, there’s now so much great technology out there that it can be a little overwhelming, which is why I’ve put together a guide to the best technologies for small business owners to help get you get up to speed.

The Results are Clear

According to the Census Bureau, there are currently 23 million small businesses across America, which account for 54% of U.S. annual sales and have contributed 65% of all net new jobs since 1995. In short, small businesses are making up an increasingly big part of our national economy and forming the lifeblood of our local communities.

Tech-savvy small business owners are now running their affairs in a lean, data-led way; embracing the web to reach, engage, and retain customers; using technology to run efficient operations and optimize profits; and placing innovation at the heart of how they run their businesses.

For those of us who love diversity and originality – and who recognize the value of local entrepreneurship to the economy – the fact that we can bring some of this efficiency and advanced analytics to the small business community is a huge opportunity.  And for the aspiring local entrepreneur, there has never been a better time to get started.

The technology that big businesses have had at their disposal for thirty years is now in the hands of the guy running your local bodega, the mom-and-pop behind your neighborhood wine store, and the young entrepreneur starting a new food truck.

For anyone interested in opening a store or restaurant in their neighborhood, we’ve written a Small Business 101 guide to help you get started and grow your business.