Three benefits to accepting Cryptocurrencies as a retailer

It’s no revelation that for a currency to be successful, there needs to be people who are willing to accept it as payment. More and more retailers are starting to accept Bitcoin — as well as many altcoins — but it’s still not unusual to hear people asking why a business should accept cryptocurrencies in their stores.

Here’s three massive benefits that can come out of choosing to add a cryptocurrency payment method:

Save on fees:

Any business owner that uses a payment processor, whether something like PayPal or a general credit card processor, has likely winced at the amount it costs. Cryptocurrency payments are remarkably cheaper to process. If you choose to process them directly, the fees are practically non-existent. Even if you opt for a more convenient, third-party payment processor it can still turn out to be many, many times cheaper.

These savings can be used to increase profit margins, or be passed onto the customer with cheaper prices, or maybe even a combination of both.

Attract new customers:

There are (at least) hundreds of thousands of people who are in possession of cryptocurrencies around the world — and many of these people want to be able to spend it. They will choose you over another retailer who doesn’t accept their chosen currency. If you’re in a retail area with a lot of competition, accepting Bitcoin or another coin is just one more thing you can have over your competitors.

Customers will become influencers:

Cryptocurrency holders are generally very passionate about their coin of choice. As soon as a company announces that it’s accepting a coin, it spreads through social media as people become excited that there’s one more place they can spend their money. When they do spend it, they become keen as anything to show the peers what they’ve just bought with their coin.

You’ve probably never heard somebody say, “Hey look, I just bought this pizza… and they even accepted my US Dollars!” With cryptocurrencies, this is a more than a regular thing to here among communities, and if there’s a steady-looking altcoin that’s focused on your industry this effect will be even more prevalent.

Image Credit: Cory Doctorow