Three Solutions to Help You Capitalize on Road Trip Season
Summer is here and with that comes road trip season, one of the busiest times of year for convenience stores and quick-service restaurants (QSRs).
With an influx in customers comes an influx of cash that needs to be properly managed, including counting, transporting and depositing. And while many business owners and decision makers take on these cash logistics responsibilities themselves, these tasks can often be time consuming and take away from a business owner’s main focus — serving their customers.
This year, to ensure convenience stores and QSRs are capitalizing on road trip season, business owners and decision makers should consider using cash management and logistics solutions that can help their businesses be more efficient, safer, and streamline operations.
Here are three solutions to consider implementing during these busy months:
Smart Safes
One way business owners can buy back time and protect their profits is by using a smart safe. Smart safes enable businesses to deposit money directly into a secure safe that automatically calculates the amount of money deposited, removing human error from the equation.
The money deposited is then available in the business’ bank account the next day without having to visit a bank in person. This solution alone can save business owners time, money, and significantly lowers personnel risk while providing daily cash flow.
Having cash onsite is always a risk for businesses, especially QSRs and convenience stores during a high-traffic period like road trip season. With a smart safe, that risk is reduced. Business owners can put their worries at ease knowing their cash is stored safely and securely.
Armored Carrier Management Services
Once the money is accepted as payment and properly accounted for, many businesses — 75 percent, according to a Cash Connect study — employ the “cash to bank” method, meaning someone transports cash at the end of each day from the business to the bank to be deposited.
This method is not only risky, leaving your business vulnerable to theft, but it is also operationally inefficient. Solutions like armored carrier management services can help mitigate these concerns.
Once you have deposited money in your smart safe, an armored carrier management service can transport the money from your convenience store or QSR to your bank, removing human error from the equation and returning time to you and your employees.
ATM Cash Management & Forecasting
ATMs are often an added reason that travelers stop at convenience stores and QSRs during road trip season, with many needing cash for tolls, activities, and in case of emergencies.
Business owners and decision makers can save time by outsourcing their ATM cash management to a third-party company, ensuring that their machines are always in service while removing a responsibility from their personal to-do list.
An ATM solutions company can utilize cash forecasting software to map out how much money your machine needs and when it should be loaded, guaranteeing it never runs out of money, and assisting in making your customer experience a good one.
Finances and cash flow are at the center of every business, making it imperative that business owners and decision makers feel confident in their cash management and logistics processes while understanding what is always happening with their money.
With road trip season bringing an influx of cash this summer, now is an optimal time to consider implementing cash logistics solutions. These solutions help with immediate cash logistics needs, as well as set the business up for success and growth in the future.
John Clatworthy is senior vice president, chief customer and strategy officer at Cash Connect, a provider of cash logistics and managed services for the retail payments, financial services, and ATM industries. For more information, visit cash-connect.com or email [email protected].
Editor’s note: The opinions expressed in this column are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the views of Convenience Store News.