Mobile Wallet: Want to Shop? Leave Your Wallets Behind

By Phil Talbot - go to guy | mobile ordering | saavi

Now, move over paper money or bulky wallets.

From getting your early morning coffee in Starbucks to getting trendy in Abercrombie & Fitch, all you’ll ever need to shop is your mobile phone — wallets not needed.

With KFC UK & Ireland’s recent move towards mobile ordering, a whole new set of key global retailers are turning their shops into wallet-free establishments and fixing their eyes on mobile. As a result of this portable e-commerce revolution, many joint ventures between retailers and financial institutions have blossomed. Experts believe a surge of these ‘wheeling and dealing’ should benefit the final judge: consumers.

Paypal Meets Mobile Wallet

Lately, Paypal has upped the ante in mobile retail announcing its partnership with 15 new major retailers enabling consumers to pay via their Paypal accounts. This move comes at the heel of a similar deal with Home Depot deploying the same type of payment at roughly 2,000 of its retail stores.

The new 15 stores partnering with Paypal include:

-          Toys “R” Us

-          Tiger Direct

-          Rooms to Go

-          Office Depot

-          Nine West

-          Jos. A. Bank Clothiers

-          J.C. Penney

-          Jamba Juice

-          Guitar Center

-          Foot Locker

-          Barnes & Noble

-          American Eagle Outfitters

-          Advance Auto Parts

-          Aeropostale

-          Abercrombie & Fitch

With these partnerships, consumers can pay using just their Paypal accounts eliminating the need to bring cash or utilize a credit or a debit account, according to Paypal VP of retail and prepaid Don Kingsborough.

 All these translate to a greater consumer experience. With the mobile Paypal app installed in your cellphone, there will be no need to even bring ID to verify identity as the POS system would require the customer’s PIN via manual entry.

Starbucks Joins the Fray

Another experience has brought change in our everyday habits: coffee. Starbucks, one of the early institutions to introduce a mobile app for its loyal patrons, is moving their customer service to even greater heights.

Adam Brotman, currently CDO (Chief Digital Officer) for Starbucks, divulged that it is their loyalty program that “formed the basis” of their mobile payment ecosystem. Today, consumers can “simply scan” their iPhone or any Android phone through the unique Starbucks POS to pay for their morning coffee.

However, the Starbucks mobile app has not included the Paypal method of payment — only debit or credit. Still company executives like Brotman have expressed their satisfaction over these developments. Since phones are handy, Brotman cites that this spells more convenience for the customers giving them a faster means to pay.

Mobile Apps Make the Difference

Also, mobile ordering apps have given businesses a great way to cut on costs. For Starbucks alone, this means reduced cost in processing purchases to about 25%, as an equivalent number of customers now use digital or the new plastic Starbucks card.

To date, Starbucks mobile app can also be used for ordering, finding the closest Starbucks store and managing one’s account at a tap of a finger.

With all these developments underway, the best customer buying experience could be one wherein you do not have to bring money to shop — just mobile.

 Phil Talbot is founder of SAAVI – the mobile ordering specialists and the resident expert in mobile ordering systems. You can follow SAAVI on Facebook