Who posted a big win at Super Bowl XXX?
If you said Dallas, you are, of course, correct. If you said Facility Merchandising Inc., you are also correct.
This Woodland Hills, Calif., company, which had an exclusive deal to sell game merchandise at Sun Devil Stadium on Sunday, racked up record sales of close to $3 million.
Using 80 wireless point of sale terminals provided by RAM Mobile Data, Facility Merchandising accepted credit cards, rather than requiring cash only for souvenirs like T-shirts, sweatshirts, jackets, and hats.
Because these items ranged in cost from $16 to $50, the option of paying with credit cards figured to appeal to many fans. But Sun Devil Stadium, site of the Steelers-Cowboys game, does not have the phone lines and electrical outlets required to install and use regular dial-up point of sale terminals.
That's why Facility Merchandising cut a deal with RAM Mobile Data to install terminals on site for the big day.
The Woodbridge, N.J., firm's point of sale technology includes a wireless modem and a battery-powered point of sale terminal. To use it, a sales clerk slides the credit card through the terminal, and the number is sent wirelessly to RAM's nearest base station. Account information is then sent via land lines to the processor, where the account status is verified and authorization relayed to the terminal. The entire process takes less than 10 seconds.
According to Information Resources Inc., a Boston-based market research firm, consumers spend about 30% more per transaction when using a credit card instead of cash.
