Retail IT News For VARs — May 2, 2014
By Christine Kern, contributing writer
In the news this week, Walmart has introduced a new store-to-store money transfer service. In other news, fashion retailers are looking to image-recognition apps for smart phones as the latest wave in marketing strategies. And PayPal is jumping on the wearables and beacon bandwagons, piloting a program that uses beacon technology coupled with smart wearables to enable customers to pay without using credit cards.
Wal-Mart Launches Money Transfer Service
According to Chain Store Age, Wal-Mart Stores is launching a new, store-to-store money transfer service called Wal-Mart-2-Wal-Mart, operated by Ria Financial Services, a subsidiary of electronic payments company Euronet. It allows customers to transfer money to and from more than 4,000 Wal-Mart stores nationwide for what the retailer says is up to 50 percent less than similar offerings on the market.
Fashion Retailers Explore Image-Recognition Apps For Smartphones
As The Guardian reports, image-recognition software, where algorithms are used to identify and match one image with another, has been used in security and marketing for a number of years. Adoption by the fashion industry is seen as one of the first steps in the widespread commercialization of the technology. Software from firms such as Snap Fashion and Style-Eyes lets shoppers upload photos of clothing and link to relevant stores.
PayPal Pilots Beacon-Enabled Payments Using Samsung Wearables
Mobile Commerce Daily reports that PayPal is piloting a new payment method linking Bluetooth low energy beacons with Samsung Galaxy smart wearables to enable payments without the need for a bank card or a smartphone.
Retail IT News Talking Points
According to Chain Store Age, China was the 2013 leader in Asia in new POS terminal installed. According to a new report from IHL Group, “Asia/Pacific POS Terminal Study,” China had 12 percent year-over-year growth in year-over-year POS terminal installations. The Asia/Pacific region as a whole experienced 6.5 percent POS terminal growth. The study also concluded that uncertainty about foreign ownership of retailers slowed POS growth in India to 8 percent and that Vietnam was the newest hot market for new POS devices.
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