Amid questions ranging from the evolution of mobile payment to the ominous Europay MasterCard Visa (EMV) transitions set for later this fall, attendees of the annual Conexxus technology conference in Annapolis, Md., this past spring waded into a pool of uncertainty, often finding more questions than answers.
In one of its more concrete developments, Conexxus members presented documents meant to standardize mobile payment at convenience stores and gas stations. The collection of descriptions, diagrams and notations are now in the middle of a 60-day public-review phase, according to members of the Alexandria, Va.-based group, which advises NACS on technology developments.
Retailer and supplier members of Conexxus reviewed key elements of the document, which defines business requirements, describes various use cases or scenarios, outlines “above site” and site-level sequence diagrams, provides technical schemas and lists implementation guidelines tied to the numerous ways a mobile payment can occur at a c-store, said Wesley Burress, American business support manager for ExxonMobil, Houston, and head of the mobile-payments committee within Conexxus.
“It’s a common message set for mobile payment that the vendor community can implement,” Burress said. “It’s a win for the merchant in that we can be more agile with speed-to-market for mobile payment.”
The committee’s next step is to integrate loyalty into its new standard, a process that began as the conference continued.
Mobile Payments & Data Security
During the general sessions, retailer Jenny Bullard, CIO of Flash Foods, Waycross, Ga., described the mobile-payment program her team initiated at the 171-store chain in 2013. Using Flash Foods’ branded mobile app, customers can activate a pump and receive a rollback discount. The system uses an automated clearinghouse process, which in most cases costs less than a credit-card transaction. Offering mobile payments via the solution generates loyalty among customers and lowers overall transaction costs, Bullard said.
Other Conexxus committees over the five-day conference addressed issues such as data security, forecourt control, lottery, motor fuels, point-of-sale and back office, electronic payment servers and point-to-point encryption.
Using everything from Bluetooth beacons to undetectable sound and flickering LED lights, Marty Ramos spoke to attendees about tracking consumers as they entered the store and offering them meaningful, relevant discounts.
Ramos, chief technology officer for retail, consumer products and services for Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft, was one of the conference’s opening speakers.
In addition to sensor-based technologies, Ramos said that online retailers such as Amazon are making significant headway with customers, often redefining convenience along the way. “All [these] channels are competing for the same dollar, [sales] historically driven through brick and mortar,” Ramos said. “E-commerce is growing at six times the rate of brick-and-mortar sales, taking away a lot of growth.”
Through technology, he said, retailers can make sure the different online and brick-and-mortar formats “stay in parity.”
Bluetooth beacon technology—as well as other sensor technologies using sound or even light—can identify specific shoppers as they walk into the store, Ramos said. Historical data pulled from a retailer’s website can bring up a shopper’s past purchases and offer relevant discounts while he or she browses the floor. Technology also can identify shoppers who buy more than others, giving clerks the ability to prioritize their time.
The difference between online shopping and in-store shopping is such history and the ability to offer more information—a customer’s special price, recommendations, ingredients—to the shopper when he or she is in a store, he said.
Ramos cited payments as another area of technology development retailers need to address, using Seattle-based Starbucks a prime example. The coffeehouse giant essentially persuaded millions of customers to use the company’s own tender.
Ramos said he operates a 23,000-squarefoot “mall” in Redmond that houses dozens of mock stores, all of which demonstrate different ways to incorporate upcoming technologies.
EMV & Social Media
In addition to Ramos, Gray Taylor, executive director of Conexxus, gave attendees a rundown of important issues facing c-store retailers, such as EMV adoption, the evolution of mobile payment and ongoing work with technology standards.
Other speakers at the conference touched on marketing and ways to use social media effectively. Anthony Shop, chief strategy officer for Social Driver, Washington, D.C., said posting messages, photos and videos to support a brand today may mean taking a nontraditional approach. Companies used to a formal, elongated decision-making process may find themselves unable to keep up with the quick pace of today’s social media.
“It’s like a sports car,” Shop said. “It has to be flat, fast and fun.”
In many instances, retailers have to bypass the usual press-release approval process and make responses quick and relevant to customers. In terms of being “flat,” Shop described a decision-making process that involved fewer people, but the “right” ones who can make relevant choices.
Finally, Shop described the element of fun as matching the tone of the consumers’ conversation. So while some brands can be “cheeky and irreverent,” others can adopt a more human, empathetic approach.
“Lines are blurring,” he said. “Consumers are expecting you to communicate in more human, more fun ways.”
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