“Be prepared” is, admittedly, the Girl Scout motto. But given such recent occurrences as Hurricane Irene, which caused problems for retailers and restaurant operations up and down the East Coast this past August, merchants should follow it as well with a few simple disaster preparedness strategies.

Additionally, think about printing the Web address of your email sign-up form on the bottom of point of sale receipts and invoices. Employees can even be asked to collect e-mail addresses over the phone when customers call your store or restaurant.

The first of these features is the option to integrate a security camera and DVR system to record in-store activity. Why is this important? Employee theft—caused by a combination of theft of cash and inventory along with the granting of unwarranted discounts by employees (a practice known as “sweethearting”) is one of the leading causes of retail shrink.

Faster, more efficient processing ranks at the top of the list of benefits to be reaped from deploying an integrated fuel pump and point of sale system. However, it is far from the only benefit—providing that the solution you select has a top-notch reporting component.

For many independent gas stations, gas station chains, convenience stores and grocery stores, selling both gasoline and merchandise has become a competitive weapon as well as a way to bolster productivity. But while it is not difficult to persuade consumers to fill up the gas tank while simultaneously making a food purchase (or vice versa), managing these different facets of the business can be challenging on many levels.

The most comprehensive end-to-end security solution available today, the IPAD ® SC helps merchants and restaurateurs prevent personal cardholder data breaches, without compromising the speed and convenience of customer transactions. Here’s how:

pcAmerica has the technology that can get you started with social marketing, using solutions from behind the counter.

Additionally, under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, passed by Congress in 2010, retailers and restaurant owners can set minimum price levels for the use of credit cards in their establishments. The minimum must be under $10. Why bother? The transaction fees operators pay to process really small purchases—say, below $5—essentially cancel out the profit from the sale.

Using PCI-compliant technology at the physical point of sale constitutes PCI compliance by default. While this may be the case, remember that PCI guidelines also require the implementation of measures to ensure the physical security of networks and payment technology as well as the maintenance of written security policies. Although it is critical that terminals and other point of sale hardware be PCI- compliant, compliance as a whole doesn’t stop there.

A few months back, we explained why it’s important for retailers and restaurant operators to blog just as we at pcAmerica do. We hope you took our advice! Now it’s time to look at a few ways to prevent your blog from becoming stale and, as a result, losing some of its following. Here are three strategies to start with; see our next installment for more ideas.