It’s Not the 3% That’s Costing You—It’s Everything Around It

There’s a lot of talk in the industry about swipe fees right now—and for good reason. They’re frustrating. They eat into margin. And unlike other expenses, you can’t negotiate with Visa.  Ken Ryan nailed the issue in his Floor Covering News article, “Retailers take a swing at swipe fees,” noting:

“Retailers don’t want to risk turning away a customer who’s ready to spend now on a card.”

He’s right. But what we’re seeing behind the scenes at Service Buddy is this: it’s not just the 2–3% fee that’s hurting your business. It’s everything around it.

Manual vs. Digital: The Two Ways Customers Pay

Your customer either pays:

• Manually (check, cash)
• Digitally (credit card or ACH)

Most shops think digital payments are the problem. But the real issue is that payments aren’t embedded into their systems.

The Problem with Disconnected Payments

When payment isn’t part of your operational workflow, it becomes chaos. Here’s what usually happens with disconnected tools:

• You take a card on a terminal (or worse—send a spammy “Click to Pay” email)
• Then someone manually updates the job schedule
• Alerts the team
• Logs into the processor portal
• Sends receipts
• Updates inventory
• Reconciles accounting
• Starts over if there’s a refund

That’s not a payment flow. That’s a scavenger hunt.

And it’s expensive—not in swipe fees, but in labor, errors, and lost time.

The Power of Embedded Payments

This is what top-performing retailers are doing differently.

With embedded payments (like we offer in Service Buddy):

• The quote, upsell, signature, and payment happen in one flow
• In-store? Tap or insert—done
• Everything syncs: calendar, job status, inventory, accounting
• The customer gets an automatic email and text confirmation

No follow-ups. No cleanup. No margin leak.

We’ve seen shops collect more—faster—simply by removing friction from the payment experience.

Surcharging Is a Distraction

Some retailers try to offset fees by charging customers extra for paying with a card. That creates friction—and depending on your state, it might not even be legal.

The smarter move? Price it in.

• It feels seamless to the customer
• Your approvals go up
• You look more modern and professional

Customers aren’t leaving over 3%. If they are, they were never serious in the first place.

🛒 You’re Competing with Amazon—Whether You Know It or Not

Your customers are used to buying groceries, booking flights, and ordering furniture in a few taps.

If your payment process feels like a fax machine and a follow-up call? They’ll bounce.

The bar has moved. Fast, seamless, mobile-first transactions are now expected—even for $5,000 flooring installs.

Modern Retailers Are Making the Switch

Here’s what we see from the top flooring businesses using Service Buddy:

• They’ve ditched terminals and whiteboards
• They quote, schedule, and collect in one place
• Their teams don’t waste time logging into five different systems
• And their customers love how easy it is to do business with them

It’s not about the fee. It’s about the system. And Service Buddy gives you one that works.

Takeaway:

Swipe fees get the headlines. But manual work, scattered tools, and payment chaos are the real margin killers. Retailers like you can fix it—not by fighting fees, but by embedding payments and streamlining the entire flow. Service Buddy does exactly that.

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