Timberland And Rite Aid Dip Toes Into Proximity Tech

What Happened
Timberland and Rite Aid have joined the growing list of retailers that incorporate proximity technologies into their stores. At its NYC flagship store near Herald Square, Timberland has enlisted CloudTags’ NFC technology to create an interactive in-store experience, where customers can simply tap a product tag against one of the tablets installed throughout the store to bring up more information about the item, as well as recommendations for similar products.

Rite Aid, on the other hand, has finished installing beacons in all its 4,600 stores across the states, and is preparing for one of the largest beacon activations to date. The company is looking to use beacons to push relevant information and value offers to customers in stores via its mobile app.

What Retailers Need To Do
Proximity technologies can be of great use to retailers in creating a shopping experience that bridges the digital and the physical. To better compete with fast growing ecommerce rivals, brick-and-mortar retailers should tap into these kinds of new technologies to create engaging in-store shopping experience that help drive store visits and improve online/offline attributions. For a more advanced look at how proximity technology can help retail brands, check out one of our recent Fast Forward editions.

 


Sources: Digiday & GeoMarketing

RIte Aid To Start Accepting Mobile Payments Including Apple Pay

What Happened
National drugstore chain Rite Aid will start accepting both Apple Pay and Google Wallet this upcoming Saturday in all its 4,600 stores across the country. The company also plans to accept Google’s forthcoming Android Pay, as well as tap-to-pay credit cards.

What Brands Should Do
Despite being a member of the Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX) consortium that backs its own mobile payment system CurrentC which aims to compete with the likes of Apple Pay, Rite Aid has seemingly realized the importance of giving customers the option to use their prefered mobile payment method. Best Buy, also a member of MCX, announced a similar decision earlier this year. Such newfound acceptance among the national retailers will no doubt furher boost the adoption rate of mobile payments. For brands that wish to stay ahead of the digital curve, now would be the time to start developing a digital payment strategy and incorporating existing reward and loyalty programs into point of sale systems.

 

Source: New York Times