Watch the video and learn how Go Go Kids has benefited from integrating their Smartpay terminal with a Point of Sale system.
Go Go Kids is an educational focused toy and book store for children based in Remuera, Auckland. We had the privilege of interviewing their owner Judy about how a Vend (now Lightspeed Retail) and Smartpay integrated payment solution has helped her grow her business.
Q: What inspired you to start your business?
A: Before I set up the store I was a full time stay at home mum. During that time I found the best education for kids was not to teach them, but to learn along with them. I wanted to support not only my kids but also other children to learn from play. At the same time I was driven by the hope that my kids would be proud to have a mum who was doing something she enjoyed and was passionate about.
Our store offers a wide range of toys and books, supporting all aspects of child development, imagination and social skills.
Q: What were some of the challenges you experienced when starting your business?
A: Time is definitely the biggest challenge for me! Managing a retail store while being a mum with 2 kids, it seems like I never have enough time. Often it’s minor issues in the store that build up and end up taking most of my time. I think improving efficiency is key for me to manage work-life balance.
Take inventory management as an example; We offer a wide range of products and specific books or toys to meet different needs, and we constantly bring new items to make sure our product selection is up-to-date. In the past, stock management and inventory control was very challenging for us. We needed a system where we could quickly search up what we have in stock and provide relevant sales reports so we could make better purchase decisions.
Q: How important is customer experience to your store?
A: Customer experience is our top priority; We put a lot of thought into our store layout, décor and staff training and we are always thinking about the way we decorate our store and the placement of our toys and books. We try to make our store enjoyable for children and their parents. Being able to provide a fast service, especially during our busy times, is also very important to us. We needed a system that could deliver smooth and quick transactions so we could cut down on the wait time, interact better with our customers and improve their experience.
Q: What made you choose a Smartpay integrated payment solution?
A: Some of my friends have used Vend (now Lightspeed Retail) and Smartpay and they recommended it to me. I then did some more research on their websites and found their integrated solution could meet all my requirements.
Q: How do you find the Smartpay integrated payment solution so far?
A: The integration has made it so much easier to run our business, even better than we expected. The payment process is very fast and easy and there was not much training required for my staff. All we need to do is to scan items and the price comes through on the Smartpay terminal for customers to pay.
Managing inventory can be challenging and time consuming but Vend (now Lightspeed Retail) has definitely helped us increase our productivity. For example, we now use the bulk product import function to load all our products in just one click – no more time wasted on human error and manual data entry!
It also provides detailed reports and insights for our store so we can see how my store is performing. We can easily identify those areas and products that are working well and quickly identify any problem areas that need attention.
Q: What advice do you have for people thinking about getting an integrated payment solution?
A: Understanding your business needs is the top priority when it comes to choosing your payment provider. Evaluate your business’s size, inventory and overall purpose and be clear with your goals. Make sure you choose a solution that will grow with your business and always choose partners that provide good support services. Accepting payments is business critical so working with providers that are there for you when you need them is important. Finding the right payment partner can be time consuming but very rewarding in the long run; helping increase efficiency and giving you more time to focus on growing your business.