Bar Codes, Mobile to Mobile Commerce (M2C) and Multipurpose Consumer Interactive Payment Solutions – Part 2

In my previous post, we discussed the utilization of two mobile devices in a bar codes scanning scenario.  We are going to go a little more “old school” today with a more traditional in-lane device scanning scenario associated with a Multipurpose Consumer  Payment Solution.

Multipurpose Consumer Payment Solutions – Definition: The utilization of a payment terminal for the purposes of identifying and interacting with consumers as well as for the facilitation of payments.

To be honest, this isn’t really a new trend, yet rather something that the industry has been building towards since the inception of the first PIN pad. That said, we are finally at the point where this vision has materialized into viable solutions.

Scenario – Envision a high quality, touch screen display that has enough space to both market to consumers and provide a scrolling receipt. Pair that up with the ability to add transaction modifiers (think extended warranty for an appliance or the addition of a shake to a combo meal), capture signatures, encrypt transactions, accept PIN entry, and read bar codes, including traditional 1D bar codes plus today’s 2D QR bar codes. On top of all that, put the solution in an attractive, non-threatening package that consumers are eager to use. The result is effectively the Swiss Army® knife of the retail environment. It quite literally will do anything a retailer could possibly want it to do.

Sounds pretty cool?  Wish it existed?  Well it does. VeriFone’s Mx925 scanner and stand combo can do all of this and has the power and flexibility to support the ever changing payments world.

VeriFone MX 925

Benefits of this solution are only limited to the imagination of retailers and how they want to improve their checkout experience. One great example of a business using this technology successfully is Starbucks. There was also an article yesterday about a restaurant–The Melt–that lets customers pre-order and pay for their food before arriving at the restaurant and once there, they can skip to the front of the line, scan the QR code they received on their mobile, and their food is made on the spot. And this is just the tip of the iceberg.

At the end of the day, bar codes are cool but are not a complete solution. Pairing this technology either with devices that enable M²C (Mobile to Mobile Commerce) or a Multipurpose Consumer Payment Solutions will result in the materialization of the desired operational, marketing or security benefits desired by the business.