How Can Supermarkets Handle Large Cash Efficiently?

Shoppers Prefer Cash Payments at Supermarkets

Supermarkets have faced a stern challenge from online and delivery shopping trends in the last decade. However, US consumers still prefer shopping at their favorite grocery store or supermarket given the choice.

A recent research from the National Grocers shows that 75% of consumers prefer to shop in-store. Only 11% of consumers prefer buying groceries and other items online. And 68% of consumers who do online shopping, make these purchases on top of their in-store buys.

Grocery shopping aside, a large share of consumers still prefer to buy their favorite products at physical stores and supermarket outlets.

So, how do shoppers pay at supermarkets?

A staggering 61% of shoppers still pay by cash at POS for small and medium purchases. This share is still a decline from 70% in 2023 with a significant rise in credit card payments and “buy now pay later” services.

And if we talk about an overall trend for the US shoppers’ favorite POS payment methods, an estimated 12% of the total purchases are still made through cash.

How Can Supermarkets Handle Large Cash Efficiently?

Supermarkets receive the bulk of those shoppers willing to pay by cash. Their orders are often small and frequent. It means there will be tons of currency notes to handle at your busy outlet.

Every business loves to see more cash in their bank but handling large cash efficiently is challenging.

Here are our top 5 tips to make your cash handlers’ lives easy.

1. Create Cash Handling Protocols

Creating well-defined cash handling protocols at your supermarket will make things super-easy for you and the staff. It will set the tone from the top to managers and down to the operational staff.

• Cashiers will keep the electronic register entries up to date.
• Set a maximum cash limit for each drawer.
• Set the reconciliation procedure and assign authorizations.
• Set clear rules for cash counting, handling, and transfer to the safety vault.
• Obligate cashiers to present detailed cash sheets with denominations of cash notes, number of currency bills, number of coins, petty cash issued, etc.
• Define rules for receiving and handing over cashier drawers and balances brought forward and carried over between cashiers.
• Define roles for cashiers, supervisors, managers, and senior staff with clear mandates and responsibilities.

2. Train Your Cashiers

It’s one thing creating a good strategy and another to achieve effective results. One hurdle supermarkets face is the lack of cash-handling skills for cashiers.

A good starting point to tackle that challenge is to arrange cashier training programs. Educate cashiers about your company policies, employee theft, safety protocols, and cash handling procedures.

Cashier training shouldn’t be a one-time activity. For instance, whenever you upgrade the hardware for cash management systems like purchasing a modern cash counting machine, training your cashiers to efficiently utilize the counter is important.

3. Follow the Security Protocols

With a clear strategy and trained cashiers, your next task is to oblige all employees to follow the security protocols.

The installation of security cameras for shoppers and cashiers is only one part of it. You should set rules for cashier drawer access, POS authorization, and cash transfers to the safety vaults.

An important security point is to follow the dual authorization model. Don’t allow a single employee to count, reconcile, or transfer cash without another authorized person.

Make those combinations shuffle across the POS, drawers, shifts, and store outlets for enhanced security measures.

4. Arrange Sufficient Change at Your Disposal

It may surprise many shoppers that the change and coins still matter for the US economy. And you never know when a coin circulation challenge may arise again.

Did you know the FMI, the NGA, and several other financial associations had to write formal letters to the US Treasury to address the coin shortage problem during the COVID-19 crisis?

So, keep the coins and small denomination dollar bills at your disposal to avoid monetary losses and operational challenges.

5. Handling High Volumes of Cash

During peak times and days, your supermarket outlet will see large volumes of cash influx. With the right plan and efficient tools, you can prepare well to handle this situation.

You have made a clear policy, trained your cashiers, and set up the security protocols to get things moving.

The next part? Equip your cashiers with the right hardware.

It will save you enormous time, effort, and money when you are equipped with modern money counting machines that complement your hardworking staff’s efforts.

Why Do Supermarkets Need to Take Care of Cash Payments?

Hard cash with piles of currency notes in different denominations is difficult to manage in supermarkets. But it is inevitable for some businesses like retail stores, supermarkets, and groceries - and some good reasons.

Serves Underbanked Population

Around 1 in 5 families earning $49,999 or less per annum are still unbanked or underbanked in the US. And around 10% of young people aged between 18-29 fall into this category.

So, if your supermarket or retail outlet is in an area that serves these underbanked or unbanked populations, you are doing a fine job with cash payment acceptance.

Savings on Credit Card Processing Fees

An obvious reason for serving cash payment methods is to save on credit card processing fees with banks and payment processors.

Although cash handling comes with a cost too but it’s comparatively lower than credit card processing charges for your supermarket.

Improving Customer Care Services

We all know the trend of credit card payments, digital wallets, and BNPL services but the suite isn’t complete without accepting cash at a POS.

Despite challenges with high volumes of stacked banknotes, you must strive to serve your customers with all the available options.

Control of Cash Flow

Whether you keep the collected banknotes in your safety vaults, hand them over to a cash recycler, or directly deposit them in a bank, you control the flow.

With efficient and strategic planning, you can utilize this cash stock to fulfill several operational needs in your supermarket.

Multiple Cash Drops with Efficient Cash Counters

An effective way to manage large cash inflows is to arrange multiple transfers to safety vaults or banks. But you cannot move uncounted and unreconciled money for bank or safety vault transfers.

Your cashiers will breathe easy when they are equipped with modern and fast-paced counters.

Choosing the right money counting machine from Ribao Technology involves understanding the critical needs of your cashiers.

• High-volume counting
• Fast and accurate banknote processing
• Multi-currency support
• Banknote sorting - Sort by serial number, by denomination, by face, etc.
• Detailed reporting to maintain the cash register
• Advanced detection technology for counterfeit or fake banknotes