What's New in Payments

Amazon to make its cashierless Go technology available to other merchants?

Amazon is in talks to bring its cashierless Go technology to airports and movie theaters — CNBC — “Amazon is in talks to bring the cashierless technology that runs its Go stores to other retailers like airport shops and movie theatres, according to people familiar with the matter… The idea is to start installing the technology working for customers in the first quarter of 2020 and have hundreds of these stores working by the end of 2020, two of the people said. One person said Amazon hopes to have the upgrade process take just two weeks.”


What's New in Payments

Chinese retailers use face recognition to link shoppers’ online purchase history to in-store services

Data ‘R’ Us: Alibaba, JD.com seek to lock in merchant loyalty with new services — Reuters — “One of the first firms to join an Alibaba Group Holding Ltd programme that provides years of consumer shopping history, snack food chain, Bestore Co Ltd plans to link facial recognition technology with the e-commerce giant’s account data by the year’s end. For customers opting to have their facial data in Bestore’s systems, that means shop assistants will be able to check on what food they like the moment they enter one of its stores.”






What's New in Payments

McDonald’s links up with Alibaba’s food ordering app to drive loyalty card sign ups

McDonald’s China links loyalty program to Ele.me app — Alibaba — “Starting this week, Ele.me users can activate a McDonald’s membership card with just one click on the app to earn loyalty points for purchases and receive vouchers worth up to RMB88.5 ($12.80). The fast food giant attracted nearly 20,000 new members on its first day of launching the service on May 20, while single-day orders increased about 20% week-over-week, McDonald’s China said.”


What's New in Payments

Google leverages Google Pay to bypass food ordering apps

What’s for dinner? Order it with Google — Google — “Now you can use Google Search, Maps or the Assistant to order food from services like DoorDash, Postmates, Delivery.com, Slice, and ChowNow, with Zuppler and others coming soon. Look out for the ‘Order Online’ button in Search and Maps when you search for a restaurant or type of cuisine. For participating restaurants, you can make your selections with just a few taps, view delivery or pickup times, and check out with Google Pay.”




What's New in Payments

Aeon to identify customers with face recognition at 80 self-serve stores

Aeon to use facial recognition at 80 China self-serve stores — Nikkei Asian Review — “Aeon, Japan’s largest retailer by sales, will soon debut a chain of self-serve smart stores in China that can anticipate what a customer will buy upon entering the establishment… Facial recognition technology installed in the stores will identify shoppers. Customers’ smartphones will then display recommended items and coupons based on purchasing habits and digital payment history.”


What's New in Payments

Sainsbury’s: Mobile self-checkout drives higher shopper spending

Behind Sainsbury’s in-store Mobile Pay solution — Essential Retail — “We have an average basket spend in store and we were expecting it to be slightly lower than that, but actually it’s coming out higher… If they go into store and see a queue, they want to be quick and grab two things to get into the queue as quickly as possible. But now they take their time and buy three or four things.”



What's New in Payments

Walmart to let customers shop for groceries with their voice

Want Walmart to help you grocery shop? With our new voice capabilities, just say the word — Walmart — “Beginning this month, customers can say: ‘Hey Google, talk to Walmart’ and the Google Assistant will add items directly to their Walmart Grocery cart. Best of all, customers can be extra confident that we can quickly and accurately identify the items they are asking for with the help of information from their prior purchases with us. The more you use it, the better we’ll get.”




What's New in Payments

Sam’s Club to make it easier for shoppers to add products to Scan & Go mobile self-checkout basket

Sam’s Club files patent for next-level Scan & Go test — Sam’s Club — “With the upcoming test, we’ll enhance the experience with the launch of a technology using computer vision and machine learning. Rather than having to locate the barcode and scan it just right, the camera in the app will identify the product with a simple hover and add it to the member’s shopping list.”



What's New in Payments

Snapchat opens empty shop that lets customers buy Lego clothing in AR

Snapchat is using AR to transform an empty shop into a pop-up Lego Wear Store — Evening Standard — “When you enter the store, you need to scan a Snapcode on the photo-sharing app, which uses augmented reality (AR) technology to showcase the clothes and in-store displays… Prospective buyers can purchase clothing through the integrated ‘shop now’ feature on Snapchat. This takes them through to the Lego Wear e-commerce site where they can select their preferred item and have it delivered to their home.”


What's New in Payments

Lloyds Bank to pay retailers to offer cash withdrawals to customers

Lloyds Banking Group announces pilot scheme to boost the number of retailers offering cashback — Lloyds Banking Group — “There are tens of thousands of local high street shops which have the infrastructure in place to offer a cashback service but may not see it as a viable option — especially without a purchase — as they do not receive a fee for providing cashback… We need to make it more viable for them [to] offer cashback to all customers, whether making a purchase or not.”