First steps in the event:
What an exciting first day at the Mobile World Congress! When I’m here, I feel a bit like a kid surrounded by so many great technology. Today, I’ve spend my time in the Hall 7 where the @Mobilosoft booth is located. And here, three main areas come out:
- Mobile devices (smartphones, smartwatches, etc.), produced by asian companies. While some initiatives are interesting in focusing on consumer usages (you may find the perfect smartphone for selfies makers or the best device to play games) I found other a bit chocking in the way they copy more established companies such as Apple or Google.
- Wearable devices: they are everywhere in the congress. The majority of the value propositions turns around helathcare or health monitoring technologies.
- Mobile POS systems for Retail Stores: there are plenty of solutions, I’ll try to pick up the most interesting ones in my daily summary.
A look at two mobile payment solutions:
Out of the dozen discussions around Mobile Payment, I want to highlight two solutions I found interesting in a web-to-store perspective.
1. Yapital, the QR code solution
I found Yapital a very interesting solution as its user experience is very smooth. It is based on an app (your wallet). The App may be linked to your existing payment solutions (credit or debit cards) or may be pre-loaded with money through an agent.
On its utilisation as a payment solution, it works with QR code. The cashier present the code eather on the screen of the payment solution or on a printed receipt. Then the user scan the QR code and accept the payment. It only takes 30 seconds to pay.
QR codes may also be placed inside catalogs or folders to buy on-line and soon to save coupons that may be redeemed inside the stores! This couponing solution seems to be very fresh to drive traffic inside stores in a web-to-store or print-to-store initiative.
For more info check on their website: https://www.yapital.com/eng/.
2. Wirecard, e-commerce payment solutions delivered to brick-&-mortar
One of the main advantage of the e-commerce is the fact that customers are tracked all the funnel long. It is then “easy” to retarget, propose new products or upsell customers.
Wirecard comes from this world and their objective is to bring it to the physical stores. When a customer pays, he is tracked in Real Time and his purchase is added to the CRM system of the Retailer. Nothing new compared to existing CRM systems you would say… But, it happens in a Real Time basis, visualisation is very nice at the point of sales and the customers doesn’t need to show his loyalty card.
This new solution is promising, but needs to go a step further to really play a role in a web-to-store configuration. And it is more important if they want to support the entire funnel. Indeed it will be necessary to track promotions sent to customers and prospects. Then to recognise users when entering stores (with Beacons?). The store manager (or assistant) interface could then become a real sales support tool (provide advice, upsell, etc. based on profiling).
Going further:
As a conclusion, I would say that being innovative in the Mobile Payments is probably not anymore about providing a solution that allows payment. A lot of different models exists. Mobile payment providers should now focus on user experience (which was very weak on some demos I saw), on security and on being integrated with a more complete picture of the customer. Conversion measurement will also be a big challenge in the future.
I’ll come back tomorrow with another topic that is relevant for Retail companies. Subscribe to our #MWC2015 list to get notified about future posts!
