Case Studies
merchant services
Pricing Comparison
Client Overview
Sparks Shoes is a family owned and operated footwear retail store in Beecroft, Sydney. It was established in 1931 originally for boot making and repairing and was eventually turned into a retail store in 1962 before passing on the company to its 3rd generation and current owner, Marion. Her daughter, Jaythene, is currently an owner of the business too.
It has fitted up to 4th generation of customer families for being in the footwear industry for 85 years.
Footwear has always been the family business passion. Its products range from women, children, sporting and other accessories.
They go to great lengths to ensure that the products they buy and purchase are of high quality and exactly what the customers are looking for. Meaning, they look for brands that may not be found everywhere.
Some of the brands they carry both in-store and online are Clarks, Havaianas, Rollie, Ecco, Bobux, Salt Water Sandals, Biomecanics, FRANKiE4, Ciciban, Django & Juliette.
Sparks Shoes also are accredited Clark’s Platinum Children's Fitting Specialists and the original Clark’s Fitting Specialists in Australia! The business is a strong believer that correctly fitted footwear every time is paramount for the well being of young feet now and into their future.
Find out more at sparkshoes.com.au.
Project Background
Sparks Shoes had asked their payment services provider, a major bank, to enable least-cost routing (LCR) but were advised that implementing LCR would result in an increase in merchant services fees.
The EFTPOS terminals provided by the existing payment services provider also did not integrate with the store's POS system. This meant that sales values needed to be rekeyed into the EFTPOS terminal, an inefficient process that could lead to potential errors.
Project Outcomes
Sparks Shoes utilised the Merchant Advisory Pricing Comparison service to obtain alternative pricing quotes.
Fee savings estimates were provided based on pricing from a bank and a non-bank payment service provider, both leveraging LCR and using integrated EFTPOS terminals.
Sparks Shoes elected to switch to Suncorp achieving fee savings of 39% and further process efficiencies from using EFTPOS terminals that integrated with the store's existing Vend POS system.
what our clients say
Testimonials
Sparks Shoes
"The process with Payments Consulting to review our Merchant Service Fees was simple. We supplied Payments Consulting with the last 12 months merchant service statements, and they came back with several options. Once we confirmed that the integration could occur between our POS system (Vend) and the payment terminal, we advised Payments Consulting of our decision to move to Suncorp. Suncorp contacted us and could not have been more helpful in moving us from our old acquirer to Suncorp. We commenced routing to Suncorp late in 2021. During January 2022, we traded well up for the month. Our costs for our Merchant Service Fees were 39% lower than the previous year. I would gladly recommend the services of Payments Consulting if you want to save money on your Merchant Service Fees."
Russell Zimmerman, Director
Sparks Shoes
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