Although shoppers can find just about anything online these days, more than 90 percent of Americans continue to shop in brick-and-mortar stores. The satisfaction of a multisensory experience still appeals to consumers. The convenience and flexibility of digital shopping stands to make physical shopping even more appealing. By dissolving the distinction between in-person and digital commerce, retailers can rack in the benefits of both worlds. The following companies offer a few examples of how you can unite the benefits of digital and physical commerce: Promote Loyalty Few shoppers take serious interest in clipping and carrying coupons. Customers do, however, appreciate awards for their loyalty. Digital rewards programs by companies such as Ibotta offer mobile convenience at the point of sale. Shoppers receive relevant discounts and cash-back offers during their visit to the store. While standing in the women’s clothing department at JC Penny, for example, shoppers receive coupons for women’s apparel. Savvy shoppers love to research. Millennials are known for researching online before making a purchase. QR codes allows brands to accompany physical items sold in your stores with digital ads and additional details about the product. These barcodes minimize the gap between buyers’ emotional response to ads and the point of sale. Once consumers have decided to make a purchase, apps like Swipely correspond with card-free payment options. When consumers pay with a smartphone, they received customized incentives via text or email. These offers reward customers for their patronage and encourage them to return to your business. Another way to promote loyalty comes through the Cheers experience. As soon as a customer walks through the door and checks-in with Perka, the app alerts staff members. Staff can then greet the guest by name and offer customized services to return customers, such as new styles in the customer’s preferred brand or promotions on items of interest. Want to reward yourself for a job well done? LevelUp eliminates your payment processing fees and offers rebates for each new enrollee that uses the program. The startup also issues rewards as a form of commission when employees successfully enroll consumers in the program. It’s one of the few loyalty initiatives that reward employer and employee effort. Enhanced Customer Experience One major benefit to physical shopping is the ability to interact with the product: try it on, feel the quality of its construction, and see its colors true-to-life. Digital media can now make reality even more real. Augmented reality mirrors offer the fun of trying on products without the drama of restocking, messy samples, or hygiene issues. Shoppers can to try on various finishes and shades of makeup before making a purchase using the Shiseido’s Magic Mirror. Clients can “try on” make up without the mess, clean up, or skin irritation caused by using multiple products in a short duration of time. Augmented reality mirrors are also showing up in dressing rooms. This is one feature that you won’t want to overlook. A special tag alerts the mirror of what a shopping is wearing and its size. The mirror then displays additional size and color options that are available in-store. There are also options to coordinate the clothing with accessories to complete the outfit. The mirror alerts staff members when the shopper would like to view additional items. You can maintain a tidier inventory and improve customer satisfaction with one device. Lastly, you will want to hear what your customers think about their shopping experience. This is the best way to continually improve your services. Wyzerr app captures digital, in-personal feedback before the customer leaves the store, at a time when your business can actively correct errors. Data from this feedback can also be used to drive customer satisfaction, retention, and...
Experian Integration
Improving Credit History
For many consumers, the credit reporting industry is key to achieving important milestones — including buying a car, getting a job, and leasing a home. And when it comes to renting an apartment, property managers typically prefer applicants with a record of paying rent on time (even if they’ve made a few late payments on their credit card bills). But what about new renters or renters who are looking to build or rebuild their credit history? Thanks to a new collaboration between Yardi and Experian RentBureau, rent payments can now be used to build credit history. Yardi has worked with Experian RentBureau to launch an interface that helps renters build credit history by having their rental payments reported to Experian RentBureau. “We are on a mission to broaden opportunities for consumers to gain access to the credit marketplace,” said Emily Christiansen, director of Experian RentBureau. “By working with Yardi, we are significantly expanding the number of consumers who can benefit from having their rental payments reported, which can make a real impact in the daily lives of renters nationwide.” In addition to the benefits for consumers, property managers who furnish rental payment history data to Experian RentBureau gain enhanced protection from lease skips, a faster debt-recovery process and more residents paying rent in a timely manner. Yardi clients simply sign up with Experian RentBureau to have their rental payment history data reported automatically from Yardi Voyager®. “We are dedicated to continually improving our platforms and services to further meet the evolving needs of our clients,” said Patrick Hennessey, vice president and general manager of Resident Screening at Yardi. “Adding the capability to report valuable rental payment data to Experian RentBureau through a seamless process will help our clients manage their portfolios more efficiently and enhance...
Turf War
Over Mobile Payments
The battle for territory in the mobile payments sector is heating up. The ability to pay at the cash register with just the smartphone is motivating other mobile armies to take a stand, especially after Apple Pay was launched with the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. Apple Pay proved to be easy to use; the user simply needs to hold the iPhone near the contactless reader with the finger on the Touch ID and the Near Field Communication antenna in the Apple device will do the rest. Apple Pay is secure; the company uses a Secure Element chip that encrypts user data in such a way that is preventing the company and curious eyes from getting it. The only parties that see the transaction details are the banks, credit card companies and the merchants that are directly involved in the purchase. According to Apple, a unique device number is “assigned, encrypted and securely stored” to each phone instead of the actual credit card number. Moreover, each individual transaction features a one-time dynamic security code number, too. Even though Apple Pay is limited to the users who own iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus models, mobile payments have been increasing – the Business Insider research shows that “payments made through Apple Pay accounted for between 0.1%-1.6% of transactions at five top retailers in the month following the launch of the feature.” The results might seem like a small fraction, but for a brand new platform in its first month, this is actually good progress. Joining in is Google who announced partnering with Softcard, a joint venture between Verizon Wireless, AT&T and T-Mobile, to expand the reach of Google Wallet mobile payment service. In accordance with the deal, Google acquired Softcard’s technology, and the US...
Where in the Era?
Are we post, past or plus-PC?
Era of Personal Computing, PC-plus Era or even Post-PC Era – Where are we? What stage in the evolution of technology have we entered, which have we exited? What marked the transition? In 2006 HP launched a new campaign called The Computer is Personal Again, putting more emphasis on empowering users and enterprises and paying little attention to the technical matters. That was a moment when many remembered the great distance computing had traveled from room-sized devices that were anything but personal, to the small devices we carry today that satisfy such personalized needs. Every year, technology developers do their best to present to consumers either new devices or improved versions of the previous models. In the past few years, critics have been more vocal than ever, alleging lack of innovation. Are they right. or does everybody need to calm down and take a deep breath? If we are to reflect upon the history of technology we see a clear pattern: at first, devices are used by businesses. Only after reaching a stable foundation are they produced for the masses; then the product needs to mature before the mass market adopts it. Some say that innovation comes in cycles of fifty years, equally divided between the enterprise environment and the general public’s adoption life cycle. Ideas will never cease to surface. But in order to have a new idea succeed, the timing must be right. A new idea typically comes only after the previous one is perfected. Each innovation is built on the knowledge a previous one brought. People have to be mentally prepared to embrace the new. With the expansion of the hardware, the software sees considerable growth. Software is growing in value and perhaps the best example would be the gigantic move...
