How To Integrate Cash Management In Self Service Solutions

The use of cash is on the rise for the first time in ten years. Despite the commonly held view that everyone is switching to contactless, cash is making a comeback in the UK. British Retail Consortium research highlights that coins and banknotes accounted for almost a fifth of transactions in 2022, a 15% increase from the previous year. The rise of cash presents a challenge to retailers, many of which have already adopted self-service solutions, including self-checkouts and self-service kiosks, to serve their customers. How do they serve customers who choose cash as their preferred payment method, and what is the optimal way to do so?

Fortunately, as is the case with many pressing retail challenges, technology has an answer. Retailers can effectively serve customers who wish to pay using cash while also benefiting from the efficiency, sales and profitability gains that adopting self-service solutions brings. Discover how you can successfully integrate cash management into your self-service-powered checkout zone.

Why Integrate Cash Management Into Self-Service Solutions?

Integrating cash management into self-service solutions helps you serve a broad demographic of customers, including those who opt for cash as their payment method of choice. The use of cash by UK consumers is on the rise due to cost-of-living pressures and the natural return to cash following COVID. Many consumers find budgeting with cash easier than managing their money digitally. In addition, some consumers are far more accustomed to cash and either have not adopted card payments or are reluctant to do so. For those who are reluctant to adopt card payments, some have security concerns, while others are uncomfortable about using a card.

While accepting card payments as part of your self-service solutions remains essential, it is not without its costs. According to the British Retail Consortium, card payment costs to retailers continue to increase, with a 27% increase in scheme fees and a 7% increase in interchange fees. This highlights another potential benefit of integrating a cash payment option: the opportunity to reduce the cost of card payments. While the cost of cash management solutions will offset some of these savings, it is still possible to make a saving overall.

As with any form of technology, card payment terminals and their associated technology are vulnerable to technical issues and malfunction from time to time. For example, a widespread outage of a major payment processing network in the UK last year left millions of shoppers unable to use their cards to make payments. Adopting a cash management solution within your checkout zone allows you to continue to serve customers in the event of a major issue with card payments, which keeps your shop/store operational and reduces the risk to your bottom line.

Integrating Cash Management In Self-Service Solutions

Integrating cash management into self-service solutions does not need to be difficult. Advances in technology have made cash management solutions more accessible to a broader range of retailers, with improvements in their design, functionality, and cost-effectiveness. There has never been a better time to consider adding cash management to your self-service offering and realise the significant benefits that it can bring.

To successfully adopt cash management into a self-service solution, there are some important factors to consider. These range from the functionality of each solution and its design to your integration options and their compatibility with your chosen self-service solution.

Consider Your Functionality Requirements

Every cash management solution is different, with each brand and model offering various options. Almost all cash management solutions can process notes and coins but have varying processing methods and levels of storage capacity. Whether you require a solution that can count, sort, and authenticate multiple coins at once or a single slot loading option for coins and notes, there will be a solution to suit your requirements.

In regard to cash storage capacity, there are varying options from high capacity through to low capacity. The level of cash transactions that your shop/store processes will be the main influencing factor as to which capacity you opt for. It is also worth considering the impact that the capacity has on the total size of your cash management solution. This is particularly important when integrating your solution into a self-service or self-checkout solution where retail space may be restricted.

Functionality also goes far beyond core functionality. Many cash management solutions also include further options for enhanced cash security, easy maintenance, which helps control ongoing maintenance costs and advanced troubleshooting and diagnostics. Some solutions are able to fix coin jams and return invalid items automatically.

Benefit From A Great Design

When it comes to self-service and self-checkout solutions, design plays a critical role in the choice of a suitable solution. Retailers want a design that compliments the existing style of their shop/store and is modern and accessible to the customers that they serve. These design principles also extend to cash management solutions. The design of your chosen cash management solution should be in keeping with the look and feel of your self-service solution. If, for example, you have a very modern and futuristic self-checkout, a dated cash management solution is unlikely to be a suitable companion. Whereas, if your chosen cash management solution is complimentary and stylish, it will complement and enhance the design of the self-service solution that it is integrated into.

It is also essential to review the form factor of the cash management solution to determine whether it is appropriate for the self-service checkout and associated furniture that you want to integrate it with. Some cash management solutions are available in compact/slimline models, which naturally lend themselves to integration with self-service and self-checkout solutions. Achieving a smaller form factor will sometimes require a compromise on functionality, but technological advances have helped provide more options.

Check Self-Service Integrations & Compatibility

Each cash management solution will have its own integration options, which are influenced by a range of factors, including design, form factor and compatibility. The specific integration options available will affect your choice as to which self-service kiosk and self-checkout it can be paired with. Some self-service kiosk and self-checkout manufacturers will only support certain hardware and software solutions, which can then limit your choice of cash management solutions.

Choosing a self-checkout and self-service kiosk manufacturer that supports a wide range of hardware and software providers will enable you to select from the greatest possible range of cash management solutions. At Pan Oston, our self-service and self-checkout solutions are proudly hardware- and software-independent. This provides you with the freedom and flexibility to choose the hardware and software options that best suit your business. This flexibility also includes choosing cash management solutions. Many of our existing product families successfully support cash management integrations, including our award-winning SLIM self-checkouts and BLUE FIRE self-service kiosks.

Helping You Integrate Cash Management Into Self-Service Solutions

We have successfully integrated cash management solutions into our self-service and self-checkout solutions for national and international retailers. Whether you are looking to choose a self-service solution from one of our successful product families or adopt an entirely tailor-made solution, we can help. Our Red Dot Design award-winning design team is adept at creating exceptional self-service solutions that balance modern design with great functionality.

Many of our existing self-service solutions support cash management integration, including our SLIM Balance self-checkout and BLUE FIRE self-service kiosk. Whichever self-service solution you choose, you will benefit from the freedom to select a cash management solution that suits your business with our commitment to delivering hardware- and software-independent solutions.

By choosing to partner with Pan Oston, you can benefit from the many years of experience and expertise that our team of over 175 specialists have gained by supporting leading retailers. We have delivered self-service solutions with integrated cash management for growing retailers to help them serve all their customers with their preferred payment method.

Contact Our Self-Service Specialists

Our self-service specialists are ready to help you successfully integrate cash management into a self-service or self-checkout solution that suits your business. Why not discuss your self-service with cash management requirements with one of our specialists and find out how we can help you serve customers who prefer to pay with cash? Contact us to arrange a free consultation today.