Credit Cards Predict Trends

In today’s economy, it’s fairly likely that anyone running a business has been witnessing a lack of sales lately. Whether it’s a minor slope or a major fall it is certainly noticeable, and depending on how you react it could be fatal to your business. In order to survive though, you need to make sure that your customers are content, and that they keep coming back to buy your goods.

 One way to help yourself do that, is to get a feel for what kind of financial position your customers are in, and an easy way to do that is through your credit card processing. Paying attention to what credit cards your customers use can help you predict their purchasing trends by tracking major credit card companies on the market.

 Higher Stocks, Higher Spending

For example, American Express in their quarterly report has shown an increase in user spending. Kenneth I. Chenault, American Express chairman and CEO, was quoted saying “Card member spending was up 16 percent, rebounding strongly from the recessionary lows of last year.” Knowing this, if a majority of your customers are American Express users, this could lead to higher sales for you.

 On the other side of the coin, if most of your customers use Capital One, then you may need to prepare your company for a slowing in sales. Capital One’s quarter report shows a continued decline in their loan balance. Fortunately their CEO, Richard Fairbank, claims that the future looks promising and that the worst is behind them, saying that they are “well-positioned to ramp up our businesses as we emerge from the recession.”

 With this knowledge, you can now predict and make proper adjustments for any trends coming your way whether they are positive or negative, making your credit card processing company valuable at foretelling the possible future.

 Using Knowledge to Plan

What you do with this information is up to you as there are a myriad of new ways to connect with customers. You can experiment with social media sites to connect with existing customers while reaching out to potential customers online. Another technique that some companies are using is text messaging. Using text messages as coupons, customers now no longer need to clip or print anything, except to simply bring their phones with them. Another possibility is using the texts as reminders for important events or sales that are coming in the near future.

 Either way, in this economy it pays to be creative. Although there has been a recent surge in spending, it is important to keep your customers coming back and spending money. Doing some research and discovering what credit cards your customers use could give you a glimpse of what is to come, which will no doubt help your efforts.