It's lunch time at Little Pink Boxes.
The smell of fresh baked cookies and cupcakes lures customers in to this small bakery off Main Street in Downtown Merced.
When it comes time to pay, you'll notice something a little different. Instead of swiping your debit or credit card through a machine, a small square plugged into a smart phone is used instead.
It's a cheaper, faster option for owner Samantha Yniguez.
"Our transaction dollar amounts are rather low. You know, if someone's buying a cookie and they're swiping for a dollar, it's better to give a percentage only and not a percentage plus a per-swipe fee," said Yniguez, who opened the bakery last October.
The customer signs their name directly on the phone and can get receipts by email or text. They can even set-up a tab through apps on their Android or iPhone, which eliminates the need for cards all together, customers said.
"It makes it so easy. I think everyone should do that," said customer Jessica Ward.
Business owner Emily Lindsey started using the technology in late January when she opened Before and After Baby just a block away from the bakery.
Lindsey says it makes sense, especially for businesses that need to be mobile.
"It was the cheaper option, the mobile option, and it just because easy for the office. And if patients had concerns, then I'd show them that I don't even have access to anything past the end of four digits," said Lindsey.
Experts at Managed Technology Services, or M.T.S., say incorporating technology into your business can help your bottom-line. They're seeing more and more requests for so-called "mobile work forces", which allow business owners to access information anywhere, anytime.
"Technology gives you such an opportunity to improve productivity these days. You can do so much more with so much less if you just leverage the technology that you have," said Simon Marta, CEO of Managed Technology Services.
Marta's advice for small business owners is to take a good, hard look at what your needs are and what you hope the technology will do for your business. Whatever you choose can be pricey, so it's important to invest your money wisely, he said.
Little Pink Boxes and Before and After Baby also accept cash.