In the previous post, I started to explain why a wearable technology solution could improve the golf retail experience. I highlighted 3 major areas for improvement:
- product information and related services,
- in-store communication and navigation;
- payment solutions.
In this post, I am focusing on how wearable technology solutions can enhance in-store communication, navigation, and payment solutions.
A recurring situation in stores is that we wander around to find the product we are looking for. Wouldn’t it be more pleasant if we could get help without interacting with the shop assistant?
Sometimes, such questions as “Can I help you, sir?” can be annoying for me. It is good to discover the shop and find out what I want on my own.
However, discreet assistance can be handy. Can you imagine that your smartwatch or Google Glass would tell you the right direction to the desired product (+if it is available).
Payment solutions
Today, with the number of connected devices reaching critical mass, wearable payment technology is no longer a fantasy.
Cisco expects there to be 50 billion internet-connected devices (in 2013: 13 billion) by 2020.
Part of a pleasant customer experience is how seamless is the payment process. The main expectations today from payment solutions are that they should be frictionless, and customers shouldn’t have to work hard.
In brief, it is all about convenience and speed of the transaction. We should not spend unnecessary time with payment during our stay in the golf clu,b whether we are in the pro-shop.
Thanks to geo-locational and biometric sensors, wearables can really enhance the payment experience in that way I described above.
The positive experience with the wearable payment solution can support other phases of the customer journey, such as loyalty and consideration.
Probably, you remember from last year’s Barclays contactless payment wristband (bPay). Barclays’ is trying to convince us to to ditch cash for digital.
Currently, in over 300,000 locations, people can already use the bPay wristband. It is a good example that wearable payment is viable.
Another good example is Disney’s MagicBand wearable device. The MagicBands allow visitors to choose whether they share their personal data.
Therefore, the wearable device can be a source of consumer insight, allowing us to learn about our customers’ behavior.
I think the following two wearable payment solutions can be interesting for you:
FitPay is wearable payment solution that enable us to pay with it without credit card, wallet, mobile or even without opening a mobile app. FitPay also allows retailers to customize their services for us.
The other interesting wearable payment solution is Wallaby. This helps customers maximize their rewards and check their credit card balance.