Amazon introduced a mobile app some time ago that
While NFC and new payments infrastructure may
enables users to scan the barcode on a product and have make payments nearly instantaneous, a much
the app take them directly to the product’s information in more preferable solution for the consumer would be
Amazon’s online store. All Amazon needs to ship the
to avoid the point of sale altogether. The idea would
product directly to the customer’s home and bill them is be to use their mobile phone to buy the products in
one click or tap. The positive use-case has someone at a hand – moving the till to them, rather than them to
dinner party discussing a book, then scanning the barcode the till – and walk directly from the store.
on their friend’s copy rather than taking a note of the title, author and publisher. It’s not a large stretch to envisage a This is something Apple has done with the Apple Store
consumer using the same feature in a busy store.
app (as opposed to the App Store or iTunes apps). The
Consumers may find it more convenient to buy the
Apple Store app provides the typical mobile shopping
product online using a smartphone while standing in the experience. You can browse the catalogue, purchase and aisle (and having
have your selection shipped directly to your front door.
it shipped directly to their door) than to pick it up and The app also attempts to bridge the gap between the
take it to the point of sale at the front of the store if it is physical and virtual by providing a store locator should bulky and awkward, or if it won’t be used immediately.
you want the product immediately. You can also use the This becomes even more attractive up against long
app to make appointments at the Genius Bar support
queues at the till, a paucity of merchandise on the
service for Apple products. Once you’re in a store you shelves, or simply the challenge of finding products
can use the app to find out the waiting time for
that haven’t been mishandled, especial y for mass-
appointments. You can also pluck a product from a shelf, produced goods where one instance of the product is
scan the barcode with the camera on your iPhone and
as good as another in the consumer’s eyes.
pay for it from your iTunes account. You can then walk out with your purchase without having interacted with any In our previous paper on the future of exchanging value35, staff.
we also talked about how mobile payments may be even
more convenient when consumers want to leave the store This ability to empower customers to manage their own
with products. We used the idea of a trip to the hardware payments may be seen as a straight-forward extension to store for some odds and ends to fix some things around the self-checkout trend. While it requires new risk models the house. With four screws, two bits of wood and leaf and deeper integration into the retailer’s supply chain, it blower in hand, we’re ready to head home and start,
provides a more convenient solution for the customer, with apart from the fact the goods need to be taken to the
the side effect of reduced staff numbers.
point of sale. There we have to stand in line and then wait for the goods to be tallied so we can pay with a wave of our credit card.
The Future of Exchanging Value Cryptocurrencies and the trust economy 37
Loyalty
Starbucks needs to demonstrate that the scheme gives
Some retailers have responded to showrooming by
consumers enough value for them to be willing to commit focusing on loyalty programs that offer store credits
funds. The benefits for Starbucks might not apply when and bonuses. While there isn’t any evidence existing
members have insufficient funds as they are forced to add programs have improved loyalty per se, they do
funds rather than simply make a purchase.
increase a consumer’s spending with the store.
My Starbucks Rewards can best be thought
Some are experimenting with moving the loyalty
of as bringing future purchases into the
scheme to the centre of their relationship with
present to foster loyalty.
consumers. They do this by enabling the loyalty
scheme to be used for daily transactions rather
Another option is to use a loyalty scheme to delay
than having it as an afterthought post-transaction
purchases. This has the effect of pushing the payment
(“do you have our loyalty card?”).
into the future, moving from a pre-pay to a post-pay
model, making it easier for consumers to commit to the Starbucks shifted its loyalty scheme, My Starbucks
purchase. Consumers need only to decide that they want Rewards, to a stored-value card. As well as accruing
(and can afford) the product without concerning
points, members can load funds onto the card and use it themselves over the details of the transaction.
to make purchases, enabling Starbucks to connect the
customer’s preferences and loyalty scheme with the
A good example of this is Skip36, a mobile app that
payment. The act of paying now triggers both the accrual enables consumers to ‘skip’ the queue at their local
of points and the harvesting of transaction data.
café. The app uses your location to provide a list of
local cafés. Selecting any café takes you to a menu
The stored value on the card also creates a
from which you can select what you want.
problem for consumers as they have committed funds,
Alternatively, you can choose what you want – a flat
cal ed a ‘sunk-cost’ that takes some effort to recover.
white with one sugar, perhaps – then pick from a list of The stored value should lead them to prefer Starbucks
nearby cafés that can fulfil the order. When you arrive over competing coffee shops even if there is a small
at the café, you make yourself known and the coffee is price difference against Starbucks. However, the
handed to you when it is ready. Skip accumulates the
scheme does require the consumer to pre-purchase,
transactions and bills weekly. It’s not much of a stretch as there must be funds on the card before it can be
to imagine an integrated loyalty scheme, where the act used, adding an initial step to some transactions.
of ordering triggers both the accrual of points and the harvesting of transaction data.
Skip is underpinned by the assumption that people
don’t like to queue for coffee and wait for it to be
made. Streamlining this process by enabling
customers to order via their smartphones before they
arrive eliminates a couple of pain points, creating a
little bit of value Skip can share with the café.