Discount With Apple’s New Passbook

Apple’s Passbook has only been out for a few month, but so far retailers at least are embracing it. The app, which lets users store and retrieve coupons and loyalty cards from their favorite brands, was released as part of a software update (iOS 6) for Apple’s mobile and tablet devices.

On September 20, Target populated Passbook with 10 offers […]. Customers can browse offers and redeem them at checkout using a scannable bar code store in Passbook. They can also automatically subscribe to new offers as they become available, and opt to receive reminders about offers they’ve saved when they’re near or entering a Target - so they won’t, for instance, forget to stop by the beauty aisle.

Meanwhile, GAP launched a special round of offers just for Passbook users in Japan. Customers who stopped by GAP were able to redeem an assortment of swag - think coffee mugs, totes, etc. - by showing a Passbook code to a store associate.

Rachel Tipograph, global director of digital and social media at GAP, said the offer was only promoted using social media, including Twitter, Mixi and Tumblr. She said that redemption rates were “really, really high” on the first day, and that those cashing in on the offer were also buying merchandise while in store. “We don’t have enough data yet, but I have a hunch these are not the people usually walking into a Gap store,” she added. […]

In addition to the two retailers, AmEx launched a Passbook integration as well. Instead of offering the ability to pay using the card, AmEx’s Passbook integration gives details on recent transactions.

Beyond Target and GAP, brands and retailers including American Airlines, United Airlines, Walgreens, Sephora and Fandango have integrated their loyalty rewards programs through Passbook. Adoption rates appear to be strong: Approximately 17,000 holders of Sephora’s “Beauty Insider” loyalty card added it to their Passbooks in the first 24 hours of iOS 6’s availability, according to Branding Brand, which built Sephora’s mobile app. The beauty retailer sent an e-mail blast prompting users to add their cards to Passbook on launch day.

Mobile Checkout and Payment May Be the Future

Retail giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is testing out a new checkout system that enables shoppers to avoid long lines and scan items in store aisles using their smartphones.

Employees have been testing the Scan&Go service at one store in Arkansas, the Wall Street Journal reported. The new system may cut the time it takes to shoppers to scan items but does not allow customers to pay for their purchases via smartphone.

Many retailers have been testing more tech-forward methods of payment. Online payment service PayPal inked a deal with Discover earlier this year to offer an in-store payment system that is already accepted at thousands of store locations of retailers.

Evolving payment methods have attracted payment system Square - which uses a small device to turn a tablet computer or smartphone into a credit card reader - as well as Google Wallet and other mobile apps.

In-store Navigation

The aisle411 platform, combined with in-store location tracking, helps shopper to find everything they want. Retailers and brands can deliver timely and relevant messaging to shoppers at the final point of consideration by leveraging aisle411’s proprietary context-aware product recommendation engine.

This devices is available for all of Walgreens’ nearly 8,000 U.S. drugstores.

(Source: aisle411.com)

Paper goes digital

Touchcode is an invisible electronic code printed on paper, cardboard, film or labels. Just put the product on the display of your smartphone/tablet/multitouch device to read the data - no matter if you’d like to confirm the authenticity of your brand product or make your card game come to life. With Touchcode, you add interactivity to just about any product.

The Touchcode data tag was presented to an international audience at Mobile World Congress held February 27 – March 1 in Barcelona, Spain.