Those days when people fumbled for exact change, or asked the cashier to adjust ‘this time’ and cover the difference during the next meal have become distant memories.
Lately, particularly in the past few years, India has truly accelerated its journey towards becoming a digital economy, proliferating the number of cashless transactions.
The podium winners in this case? Two of them share the trophy – robust net banking systems and of course, the even more convenient, UPI (Unified Payment Interface).
UPI, in particular, continues to play a larger role in the cashless ecosystem. The reasons are obvious. It is convenient, quick, and handy. The figures too are nothing less than mind-boggling! In 2023, UPI recorded 115-118 billion transactions, and last year, it processed transactions valued between 240-250 billion dollars.
While these figures represent UPI at the macro level, let’s bring this digital revolution closer to our daily lives – specifically to the canteens with which we deal at least five days a week, if not every day. However, how are cashless transactions in canteens contributing momentum to India’s digital economy? Let’s discuss some vital aspects in this blog.
The Lingering Legacy of Cash Transactions in Canteens – 4 Challenges
Managing cash canteens may seem straightforward. However, taking a closer look reveals the ground challenges that canteen owners have lived with for years. Let’s look at four.
1. No Change
Most common and irritating, isn’t it? Customers usually do not tender exact change. As a result, canteen owners are obliged to hunt for cash, delaying services to other customers, many of whom leave and step out to eat at roadside food joints. So, this isn’t just a commercial loss but also a major customer service failure. All thanks to cash transactions!
2. Security Concerns
Cash counters full of cash are an invitation to theft. Such circumstances don’t just affect business but raise security concerns, detrimental to the staff’s safety and the canteen’s reputation.
3. Accounting Issues
Manual cash handling is often error-prone. Reconciliation towards the end of the day can become a herculean task. Let alone the thick probability of inaccuracy! Additionally, it can complicate tracking sales, managing inventory, and auditing.
4. Lack of Digital Trail
Cash transactions do not leave a digital trail. Hence, it becomes remarkably challenging for canteen owners to analyze sales patterns, popular items, peak hour’s consumption, or even customer preferences. While hampering the planning aspect, the lack of digital footprints can affect the economy. Imagine millions of rupees of cash exchanged without a trail across lakhs of canteens!
Switching to cashless transactions helps address these common challenges, benefiting canteen owners and the country’s economy. Let’s see how.
5 Ways Cashless Transactions in Canteens Prove a Boost to India’s Digital Economy
Cashless is the way to go – even when it comes to canteens, which have remained cash-driven for decades. Here’s how this smart move benefits everyone in the ecosystem.
1. For Customers – Speed and Efficiency
Cashless transactions, particularly done via UPI by scanning QR codes, expedite payments. So, no more digging the pockets for change and no more delays. Digital payments let customers spend less time waiting and more time enjoying their meals.
2. For Canteen Owners – Significant Relief from Cash Handling
Cash handling is conventional for a cashier, isn’t it? That’s their job. Agreed! But imagine spending more time than expected ensuring the receipt of accurate cash payments, handling cash, and ensuring its safety, and at the end of the day, counting it. Daunting! But cashless transactions help keep the counters clean, enable digital tracking of transactions, and simplify reconciliation towards the end of the shift.
3. For Owners and Auditors – Enhanced Transparency and Accountability
Digital banking records every transaction automatically. Thus, whether it is for accounting, audits, or analytics, the owners and auditors have a clear and comprehensive digital trail of every transaction. Going digital helps both track the canteen’s income.
4. For the Country’s Economy – Enhanced Tax Compliance and Information
Cash often disappears in thin air, leaving no footprint or record of a particular organization’s income and tax payments. It can lead to increased tax non-compliance, potentially depriving the economy of the tax it requires to progress.
In situations like these, the government may not necessarily have all the information it needs about the income of the entity under audit.
However, digital payments address these challenges. They enable canteen owners to stay even more compliant with tax payments and provide a clear picture to the government about their income. The government thus receives what it needs to keep the economic wheels moving.
5. For Canteen Owners: Access to Insights and Business Growth
Digital records enable decision-makers to track popular items, peak hours, and customer preferences. These analytical insights help them plan operations, prepare for uncertainties, and serve customers more efficiently. In a way, the information helps plan for business growth, which indirectly also lets the country’s economy blossom.
Supporting Cashless Transactions with Customized Canteen Management Systems
As India aims to become the world’s third-largest economy, each cashless transaction, whether in canteens or anywhere else, will contribute to its revenue. However, managing numerous cashless transactions efficiently requires a robust system that integrates payment gateways, along with various other service-related aspects. This is where DAccess’s canteen management systems step in.
So, why deal in cash when you can go cashless and enhance customer service?
Choose us and explore our canteen management software. Email us at info@daccess.co.in to connect with our experts and discuss your needs.