Create Your Own Customer Credit Program

Layaway programs are making a big comeback. Customers are struggling with lack of credit card lines and too much debt overall. In the past, every time you turned around, a bank was sending you a credit card offer and who needed layaway when you had ten different cards to choose from. Layaway was thought to be a thing of the past until the soft economy forced retailers to look at different ways to keep customers coming in and buying. Layaway gives customers a chance to purchase an item that they possible could not otherwise pay for at that moment or afford. It is a win, win situation if they can shop and pay for the items they need over time.

You the retailer are retaining the item and receiving deferred income until the merchandise is paid for. For this process to work well, you need POS software that will accurately account for all payment activity and even send out paper or email statements. If it is a cumbersome process, the benefits of offering layaway is negated by the poor accountability of your current POS software or obsolete paper trail you are using. It seems that all that goes around will come around again. Bring on that layaway business.