So today's post is pretty cool. At least the commercial is. Ladies
and Gentlemen, PayPal, that payment system you used pretty much in eBay has
stepped up its game quite a bit. Trust me on this one. Remember that Google
Wallet that I talked about last week? Well take that, and inject it with
steroids.
In the video at the bottom of the screen, we get to see four
noteworthy features of this new mobile technology that PayPal offers. There
aren't any hard details from PayPal yet, but they're set to unveil this either
tomorrow or Sunday according to what I've heard.
1. Geo-synchronise to maximise shopping savings
This new development features the use of the location tracker
common to Windows, Android, and Apple phones in order to bring up key deals and
offers once you walk into the store. Additionally, it apparently allows you to
have most of the store's inventory on hand through your smartphone -- the same
way that you find the right b ook at the library.
2. Skip the shopping line
Also, you might notice that in the video, the lady dashes right
out the door and doesn't have to wait in line. For those of us who've ever been
ever been stuck in Wal-Mart or Costco just waiting to get on with our lives,
this would be crucial to have. Simply scan the item, and it goes to the online
shopping cart while you're in the store, and Voilà! It's paid for.
3. Mobile ordering
How would you like to skip asking your barista for every nitpicky
detail for your coffee, or make your local pizza delivery guy to make that Hawaiian/beef/pepperoni/green
pepper/salmon pizza that always gets mixed up when you call, and instead get it
made correctly? According to the video, you can make it, order it, and pick it
up! No customer service necessary. Just add PayPal.
4. Effectively manage all your finances
Last but not least, this program allows you to balance where your
money is coming from and going. As complicating as things get financially, with
most of us using multiple credit cards and having our money in multiple
locations and deposits, it would be nice to have a tool to navigate all the
monetary traffic. Lord knows I could use it.
Will this happen? I hope so. If this technology gets implemented
in a large variety of stores, it’ll make life a whole lot easier if it’s user
friendly, it’ll make your shopping experience a whole lot better. What do you
guys think about this?
Very cool features! I just can't imagine though how the checkout works in real life. I can see that you pay for on your phone, but it seems weird that you just waive your hand/phone to a cashier while walking out of a Safeway or Macy's with several bags. Who's gonna control if you didn't put in items without payments. What do you think?
ReplyDeleteI had the very same thought myself actually. I know that Google started this other checkout service known as LevelUp where you do essentially the same thing. Pretty interesting seeing as you can't really regulate and control the items going in and out of your store. However, there must be some protection for the store that they aren't showing in the video because I don't see how any company would adopt this form of payment without protection.
ReplyDeleteNo I totally agree Sven and Alyssa. I think that there would have to be a system that gave you a ten second window to go or not or even just increase the need for theft prevention services like Ross or Target has. As much as this idea is far from the implementation stage, it's still pretty cool to show the capabilities that we do enjoy with smartphones and wireless internet.
ReplyDelete