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Retail

Barclays Launches Wearable Contactless Payments

July 17, 2015

Barclays bPay mobile contactless payment launches

When Apple announced that their mobile payment service was launching in the UK this month, Barclays was noticeably absent from the list of banks supporting the service. Word was the UK’s second largest bank was focused on launching their own revival mobile payment service. Today, the rumors proved true, as Barclays launched their bPay service. In order to use bPay you must purchase one of three “wearable” devices: a very chunky £25 bracelet, a £20 keychain fob, or a £15 sticker. Much like a Starbucks mobile card or Google Wallet, your Barclays device is connected to a prepaid bPay account; as the funds get used, you need to add more value to the account. The good news is that you do not have to be a Barclays account holder to use the service, any UK-registered Visa or MasterCard can be used to add funds (sorry Amex users). bPay will be accepted anywhere contactless payments are available (as will Apple’s and Google’s payment services). Also, similar to Apple Pay, there will be an initial £20 per transaction limit that will be reevaluated over time.

Barclays move into the mobile, contactless payment space is bold and demonstrates an understanding of the growing importance of the technology. I believe requiring users to purchase a device to use the service will be a huge barrier to entry, as will the restricted prepaid aspect of the service. The wristband is so big, expensive, and such a uni-tasker, I have a hard time believing anyone would opt for it, when a smartwatch can do mobile payments and so much more. It is also important to note that unlike Apple Pay or Google’s upcoming Android Pay, there is no security feature on the bPay devices. If your sticker falls off, anyone can pick it up and use the value remaining on it. It will be interesting to see what the uptake of bPay is like, especially since Barclays recently announced that it will eventually support Apple Pay. And, come on UK, the £20 limit for mobile payments is ridiculous!

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by Doug Parker
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Samsung Pay Trial
Retail

Samsung Begins Testing Samsung Pay In South Korea

July 16, 2015

Samsung Pay Trial

Samsung’s slightly delayed mobile payment system seems to be back on the tracks for a late-summer launch. Samsung has begun testing Samsung Pay on select Galaxy S6 phones in South Korea. The service is similar to Apple’s NFC based payment system but also includes a technology acquired from LoopPay. The tech, called Magnetic Secure Transmission (MST), allows Samsung Pay to be used anywhere there is a magnetic card reader. Simply stated, a magnetic field emitted from the phone tricks the payment terminal into thinking you just swiped your card. While this sounds like an incredible solution to ensure widespread usability of mobile payment, early reports claimed that the MST tech was fairly finicky. Magnetic fields are directionally dependent and CNN found that the phone needed to positioned in a certain way to work. While we aren’t holding our breath on MST, anything that continues to push the adoption of NFC payments is fine by us! CurrentC, we are still waiting.

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by Doug Parker
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Is CurrentC Against The Ropes - Featured
Retail

Is CurrentC Against The Ropes Before It Launches?

June 18, 2015

CurrentC Against The Ropes

It is rare for consumers to want a new technology to die, but every now and then a tech emerges that everyone can smell a mile away as being bad for the consumer. One of the clearest examples of this over the past 20 years was Divx. No, Millennials, we are not referring to the video codec, but instead a self destructing DVD developed by now-defunct Circuit City. The $4/disc product was clearly aimed to capitalize on the ignorant and ill-informed.

Last year consumers found a new technology to loath. Called CurrentC, the mobile payment system was designed by a consortium of retailers (MCX) to answer all of their needs and seemingly none of the consumers’. The system was designed from the ground up to minimize hardware investment, increase data capture of the consumer (including personal details, i.e. weight), and reduce processing fees. In case you need a quick refresh, here is how it works.  

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by Doug Parker
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Retail

Mobile Wallet Update: Apple, Google, Samsung, CurrentC

June 17, 2015

Mobile Payments Summary June2015 Samsung Android Apple CurrentC

The march towards making mobile payments part of our normal lives continues at a slow pace. Given expense of the required infrastructure updates, it is not surprising. But the good news for the end user is that things are continuing to improve and move forward.

Both Google and Samsung have announced new / improved mobile payment systems, unimaginatively called Android Pay and Samsung Pay. At Google’s I/O conference the other week, the company detailed their new Android Pay platform, superseding Google Wallet for most mobile payments. While Google Wallet requires a virtual debit card which is refilled, Android Pay works similarly to Apple Pay; Google has worked with credit card issuers to allow the cards to be loaded onto the device and then charges are made anonymously with a tokenized card number. Android Pay is expected to launch this Fall with the Android M update. Having Apple and Google utilize a similar system is great news for the consumer as it will likely push the adoption of NFC terminals at retailers.

Samsung announced their Samsung Pay system this Spring as part of the Galaxy S6 unveiling.  

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by Doug Parker
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Rebecca Minkoff Connected Dressing Room
Retail

Connected Dressing Rooms Continue Push Into Retail

May 14, 2015

Rebecca Minkoff Connected Dressing Room

We have talked about several different connected dressing room / digital mirror technologies in the past. It seems that the technology is starting to gain some traction. If you look at the numbers it is not surprising that retailers want to improve the dressing room experience. According to retail consultant Paco Underhill, 71% of shoppers who try on clothing in the fitting room make a purchase, but only 28% of shoppers enter the fitting room. Just 36% of visitors to a store exclusively browsing buy something. Driving more people to the fitting means more sales. If you have been to a clothing or department store recently, it is obvious it wouldn’t take much to improve the dressing room experience, so the concept of the connected dressing room is a huge leap forward. New technologies allow you to share photos of your try-on experience, record 360 degree views of you in the clothing, virtually try on different colors and styles, compare looks, and request different sizes.

Rebecca Minkoff has led the charge by adapting a feature rich version of eBay’s solution in its boutiques in New York and San Francisco. The small size of the boutique has allowed the outlet to deploy as many features as possible and gain meaningful analytics about its success. The boutiques allow you to use a touch screen mirror to request items for a dressing room and be alerted when your room is ready. The clothes are tagged with RFID so the dressing room can display what items you have brought in. Through the mirror in the room, you can browse “looks” for the clothing, request different sizes, store what you tried on to your account, and even purchase items you like. According to Minkoff, the two test stores have sold product 2.5 times faster than expected and customers making purchases are spending 30% more. The company is so pleased with the technology that CEO Uri Minkoff has announced the Chicago and Los Angeles stores will also adopt it when they open later this year. Head past the break to see what the Rebecca Minkoff shopping experience is like:  

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by Doug Parker
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Retail

Lowe’s Robotic Store Clerk Aims To Make Shopping Easier

January 20, 2015

Lowe's Innovation Labs OSHBotLowe’s, yes that Lowe’s, Innovation Labs are currently testing a new concept in retail assistance. The OSHBot serves as a virtual store clerk. Simply tell the robot what you are looking for and it will lead you through the store to the item. You can communicate with the machine via voice recognition or touch screen. As the robot leads you to the product you are looking for, it displays ads and special offers on its back side. While the concept makes perfect since within the hardware giant’s labyrinth-like stores, it also would be very suitable inside department stores, where patience is quickly tested as you search for one particular item.

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by Doug Parker
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Retail

Toshiba Demos Virtual “Fitting Room” Technology

January 20, 2015

Toshiba Virtual Fitting RoomToshiba recently demoed its vision of what a fitting room of the future could be. Simply stand in front of the video screen “mirror”, select the outfit you want to see, and then it will appear on you. The fitting room uses a Kinect sensor to accurately place you in the space and apply the computer generated clothing on your image. The technology seems a bit reminiscent of early webcam days, when software would let you virtually apply an eye patch or have birds circle your head. Ray-ban has a lower tech version of a virtual “fitting room” concept on their website (no connection to Toshiba’s tech), allowing you to virtually try on different sunglasses using the video from your webcam. It is far from perfect, and hopefully utilizing the technology in the Kinect helps Toshiba realize better results. As it currently exists, this type of technology doesn’t provide any feedback regarding fit, its use case seems to be limited to understanding what a certain style would look like on you.

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by Doug Parker
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