Customers may come to expect digital wallet options at POS
The point of sale is arguably the most crucial moment in any customer-retailer relationship. Its success can sum up the sometimes lengthy shopping process and every detail along the way. Good customer service, a quality product, attractive displays and effective advertising all lead up to that event. Should a sale not go through, everything building up to it resulted in nothing. The consumer's time selecting a product or service has gone to waste, and the business hasn't made a sale.
Because the POS is so critical, retailers should focus on it at least as much as any other perk they might offer customers. Increasingly, this may mean adding mobile payment options for shoppers. Citing a Chadwick Martin Bailey study, Bankrate noted that only 16 percent of the survey's respondents used a mobile wallet in the past six months. Despite this, PayPal's newly revamped app is now effectively a digital wallet, rather than just an outlet for e-commerce, as The Verge recently reported. Unlike other attempts to succeed with the technology, the source remarked that PayPal's current use by more than 132 million active participants may give it an advantage lacking in competing payment apps.
As GigaOM highlighted, the app can already pre-order food from about 1,000 cafes and restaurants, or even pay at the table. This is in addition to the clothing stores and other retailers also working with PayPal. Integrating similar payment options may be the key to bridging physical and online commerce.
