Increasing Consumer Security With Outsourced Merchant Services
Many shoppers have moved to the internet. No physical store location can compete with the convenience, privacy, and speed of online shopping. Customers can price shop and take their time making shopping decisions, all in the comfort of their own homes. Many even shop in their pajamas! Some shop for wanted items online, such as clothing, shoes, and accessories. Others use internet shopping for necessities, such as toilet papers, food items, and toiletry items. It is a great time to be an online retailer. You can reap the benefits of the online shopper, all without having to pay for a physical storefront. However, there are other things that an online retailer needs to consider.
Competition.
Although it is a busy and profitable time to be in the internet retail business, that means there are a lot of online retailers fighting for the same business. An internet retailer that wants to be successful in the mix of hundreds of other similar companies needs to be extremely competitive. They need to ensure that their marketing is successful and that they are connecting with their customers in a personal and effective way. Also, providing customers with the best products and service can give an online business over other retailers who are not focusing on that.
Uniqueness.
With so many other businesses selling on the internet, it can be difficult to find a unique product or service to sell. The internet has made it easier than ever to price shop. In the past, customers would just purchase an item in front of them at the store, because price shopping required physically going to another store. Now, the customer can simply visit another webpage, and select the cheaper, similar item with minimal effort.
The similarity of products requires online retailers to find ways to encourage customer?s to purchase from them. They may offer bulk item incentives or reductions in shipping. They may send out coupon codes that can be used with online orders. Statista (2015) there are often incentives for buying items in bulk or buying expensive items online, therefore, shoppers often spend a lot when shopping online. The average U.S. shopper spends an average of $78 per order.
Consider security.
Although internet shopping can provided consumers with an extremely convenient and quick shopping model, it can provide security risks. The internet shopping process involves card not present transactions. This means that the consumer is required to input their credit information into a webpage, never physically using their credit card. If the information is hacked or breached, the consumer?s information is stolen. The business can be liable, which can be a huge problem for smaller online retailers.
Secondary merchant chargeback protection companies can provide many benefits to smaller online retailers. A merchant chargeback protection protects both the consumer and the business from a card not present chargeback. In 2014, there were $16.31 billion worldwide fraud losses from payment card fraud. A chargeback credit card can also prevent the business from losing funds for items that they sent to the consumer.
Gain trust with online customers.
Online customers expect a retailer to completely protect their card information. If their information is breached, they expect the business to provide merchant chargeback protection. However, chargeback protection is costly. In the USA, card fraud costs more than $8 billion annually. The credit card chargeback process often protects the consumer, which can be detrimental to the company.
Choosing an outsourced merchant chargeback protection company can also provide more trust in customers. Customers are more willing to use a checkout process that is branded by a secondary company that they recognize. They feel more protected and are more willing to provide their credit information electronically. The outsourced merchant chargeback protection offers benefits for both sides of the transaction.
The internet is an extremely convenient mode for shopping in today?s world. However, without the necessary safety precautions, it can be dangerous. An online retailer needs to ensure that they have taken all of the necessary safety measures to protect their customer?s information. This often means outsourcing the merchant process to protect both the consumer and the business.
3 Surprising Reasons For Failed Relationships
You might be under the impression that if you and your partner are highly compatible and never argue that your relationship is destined to stay in tact, despite any issues that may arise. While significant issues like a lack of communication and trust often result in the ending of a relationship, there are also some reasons for failed relationships that may surprise you. Relationship coaching can often help couples to identify these potential pitfalls and work on them in order to improve together. But if you never realize that you could benefit from relationship help, you may not see the end is in sight before it occurs. Here are three surprising reasons that relationships may fail.
- Lack of conflict
If you and your partner never argue, you may take this as a good sign. However, this is more often a sign that one or both parties may be sweeping issues under the rug and harboring resentment. Most healthy relationships involve arguments from time to time. Couples in these relationships will know how to communicate and deal with issues in a way that doesn’t damage the relationship. If you and your partner never fight about anything, chances are that you’ve constructed a facade that may suddenly fall apart. Oftentimes, these sorts of relationships will be very black and white: either everything is perfect, or it’s over. If you feel you and your partner have trouble communicating your issues in a healthy way, you may benefit from a relationship coach. - Too compatible
We tend to think of being compatible as a good thing — and it usually is. It’s important that you and your partner agree on the “big stuff.” But if you’re compatible in unhealthy ways, this can spell trouble for your relationship. While it’s great for partners to encourage and be supportive of each other, this does not apply to immature or indulgent tendencies. This can result in a co-dependent relationship that’s based on mutual insecurities or a toxic, enabling relationship between two self-destructive people. Although a personal life coach may help identify these problem areas in one individual’s life, a relationship coach may be able to help you as a couple or may advise you as to whether you should be together in the long term. - Good chemistry
Yes, chemistry and a satisfying physical relationship is important for maintaining a healthy relationship. However, your sex life may be masking significant issues within your relationship. Many couples believe that if they’re satisfied in that area, then the relationship is fine. However, physicality often becomes a lower priority in longer relationships, which may cause these issues to come to light later on. Sex also may be used as a bargaining chip to convince one partner to forget about unresolved problems. If your sex life is one of the only good things about your current relationship, you should seek help from a lifecoach or relationship expert to see if problems might be resolved or whether it’s healthier for you to end the partnership.
Note that agreement, compatibility, and physical chemistry can be markers of a perfectly healthy relationship. It’s only when these are used to hide other relationship issues or keep us in a stagnant place that they may be considered to be detrimental to a partnership. If you’re currently struggling in your relationship, seek out help from a relationship coach or couples’ therapist for insight.
5 Popular Types of Street Sweeper Trucks
Occasionally, if not daily, cities and towns around the world get cleaned by specialized trucks referred to as street sweeper. These trucks are commonly found in urban areas where the presence of dirt and litter highly irritates people, especially the authorities mandated to do the cleaning. But it’s not until the 19th century when machines were invented to do the job, streets used to be full of trash and the only cleaning that was done, used to be manual. This consumed a lot of time in addition to its ineffective capacity of covering large areas.
There are various types of street sweeper trucks. Those that make use of brushes to clean the street and those that uses air to clean. However, the core function of any street sweeper is the same. The process of cleaning a street involves a series of steps depending on the nature of the dirt or litter. Typically, the dirt has to be removed from the ground; form a pile of dirt, and then the pile needs to be siphoned or scooped from the surface into a bin for proper disposal.
Street sweeper trucks come in different types and designs, they are:
1.Mechanical broom
This type of sweeper truck function by picking up debris and relaying it through a conveyor belt to a hopper. It uses a relatively low amount of horsepower airflows to pick up dirt hence uses less fuels as compared to other types of sweepers. Additionally, mechanical broom street sweeper trucks are not sensitive to rough street surfaces and are able to pick large debris and off-load them into trucks and containers. It’s commonly used to remove heavy granular materials, especially after flooding, and also the general city sweeping. Some of the drawbacks in using mechanical broom sweepers include, complex to use, high maintenance levels and remove less dirt.
2.Pure Vacuum
Just like a vacuum cleaner, pure vacuum sweeper trucks remove dirt and deposits it into a trunk hopper. Air from an impeller lifts debris from the ground and sucked by the vacuum fan then deposited into a hopper. Water from the containment area blocks granular particles from being pulled through the vacuum fan and exhausted into free air. This street sweeper truck removes dirt efficiently under the suction nozzles with its major application area being the rough potholed roadways. However, the nozzle entrance point is quite small limiting the size of materials being sucked. It can also be used in parking lot sweeping.
3.Regenerative air
Typical to pure vacuum but this one uses a blast of air to lift dirt through an airstream to a vacuum hose, where it’s hoisted into a dirt trunk. From the name itself, this sweeper relies on recirculating air through a regenerative loop. Most of the road sweeping services use this type of sweeper as it considered environmental friendly. Since it has a self-contained air stream, nothing gets out or exhausted into the atmosphere. Regenerative air sweeper is mainly used in alleyways, streets and parking lots.
Most of these street sweeper trucks are publicly used, meaning that it’s rare to find someone using around his backyard, not unless you have a big chunk of tarmac land. They can be easily found from various street sweeper rental services.
Where to Donate Household Items
Owning a home for many years often accumulates a lot of storage. It seems that the longer you have been in your home, the more items you hold onto. You may have boxes and boxes of items that you never use anymore, but do not know what to do with. You do not want to throw them out, as they are still useful, yet, you no longer have any use for them. You may have considered donating them, but you are unsure of where to donate household items. This dilemma is common of many homeowners. There are actually multiple ways to get rid of your unused and unwanted household items.
Give them to other family members in need. Donating your unused and unwanted household items can be useful for even members of your family. Perhaps you have a distant relative who is going through a tough time. Maybe you have a young couple in the family who is just beginning their life together. They could benefit from household donations, until they are able to purchase their own items for their new house.
Donate to your local church or member organization. If you are a member of a church or local community organization, this can be a great place to donate your unwanted items to. Many are unsure of where to donate household items to, but have a circle of contacts that could actually benefit from those items. Churches, for example, can use the clothing donations and other household donations to have garage sales and to raise money for other church events.
Donate to a local drop box. You have probably noticed multiple charity drop boxes popping up all over your city. The purpose of these boxes is to make it easier to donate clothes and other household items. Many people are unsure of where to donate household items to, so these boxes have made it convenient to find a location to do so. GreenDrop now has approximately 30 free standing locations and mobile trailers that collect on average 100 tons of donations each week. The organization raised $2.5 million for participating charities in 2014.
Donate to a local charity. You may be aware of local charities in your location, or you may have to look for some to know where to donate household items to. You can also ask around, asking local charities for organizations for assistance in locating a good charity that could use charitable clothing donations. The average American buys at least twice as many pieces of clothing as 20 years ago, so it is likely that you will have a lot of clothing items to donate to a charity.
If you are selecting a charity to donate to based on local recommendations, you may be worried about selecting the right one. Remember that the best charities to donate to are ones that are backed by the IRS. The IRS will only provide a 501C3 nonprofit status to those charities that are providing good for their communities. Also, donating to a nonprofit charity that is backed by the IRS means that you can receive tax breaks and benefits for donating your items to them. The IRS requires a qualified appraisal to be submitted with your tax return if you donate any single clothing or household items that is not in good used condition or better, and for which you deducted more than $500.
Many Americans have more stuff in storage than they know what to do with. A lot of these people wish to donate their items to someone who could get more use out of them, but do not know where or how to donate them. People who wish to donate their unused items have a variety of options. They can donate to family members and friends in need, to a local church or community organization, or to a local charity.
The Convenience of Clothing Donations
Many states in the country have already felt the cold weather of fall. The temperatures are quickly dropping and once winter comes, they will get even colder. Most people have already stored away their summer clothing and are pulling out their winter boxes. This is the perfect time to go through your winter clothing items and donate the ones you will no longer wear. Styles tend to change quickly, even over a year. You may also notice that some of the clothing items you wore last year no longer fit. Donating them provides many benefits to both you and the charity that you are donating to.
It frees up storage space. Donating unused and no longer worn clothing items frees up storage space. For large families or those living in small homes, storage space can be very valuable. It allows you to store the items that you will actually wear. It also frees up time during the hectic morning schedule, as the items you wear regularly are easier to find. Your children will not be overwhelmed with the items in their closet they do not like, and can get ready quicker.
Winter clothing donations are one of the most needed items. Winter clothing items tend to be more expensive, because of the additional material used. Things like coats and winter boots can be hard to come by on a strict budget. These items can be some of the most useful items to those in need. Many charity foundations may actually run out of winter clothing items because of their high need.
Those who donate can receive tax write offs. Everyone is looking for ways to decrease their tax requirements. When you donate items, you can actually use them as a tax write off. This can help bring down the amount of tax that you owe. A clothing drop off is a great way to get a tax deduction, because you are likely donating clothing items that you no longer want, need, or use.
Donating items has become easier than ever. In the past, donating clothing items may have been somewhat of a hassle. You had to go through your items and then take them to the local charity clothing donations center. You then had to wait for a volunteer or charity employee to go through the items that you brought. They would select the items they needed and then give the rest back to you. You also had to wait for them to calculate your donation amount and write out a donation slip to use for your tax write offs. Smart givers only support groups granted tax exempt status under section 501C3 of the Internal Revenue Code.
Now, however, you can simply visit your local clothing drop off center. You can request a tax write off form from the charity, which is often given to you blank. You can even visit local clothing drop off boxes that may conveniently be located at your supermarket, bank, or at other places that you frequent. GreenDrop now has approximately 30 free standing locations and mobile trailers that collect on average 100 tons of donations each week. The organization raised $2.5 billion for participating charities in 2014. People tend to give more clothes donations when the donation process is easier.
Donations are low during this time of year. Donating winter clothing at the beginning of fall or winter is very helpful. About 43% (42.7%) of those surveyed gave more during the holidays than the rest of the year, 44.4% reported giving about the same. People tend to give more charitable clothing donations during the holiday season, so fall clothing drop offs are needed at local charity organizations. The time before the holiday season is actually the lowest donated time of the year.
The fall often involves organization of clothing items. You are storing away your summer clothes and pulling out winter items. Going through the winter clothes and donating unused items helps out charities in many ways. It may also provide the donator with benefits as they can free up closet space, reduce taxes owed, and provide good in the world during a needed time.