RETAIL AND TECHNOLOGY NEWS

Mobile Payments to Ramp Up By Year’s End, eMarketer Predicts

Thanks to the release of high-exposure services, including Apple Pay and Samsung Pay, mobile payments could triple in 2016 due to a growing user base, broader merchant acceptance, and a greater frequency of consumers using their phones to make point-of-sale (POS) payments on medium- and high-priced products.

This prediction was made in a new report from eMarketer, “U.S. Mobile Payments Forecast: Driven by User Growth and Broader Acceptance, Transaction Value Will Triple in 2016.” As retailers continue to upgrade payment terminals at POS, creating more seamless user experiences, both customers and transaction volume will aggressively expand over the next several years, as summarized in the report.

Specifically, the total value of U.S. proximity mobile payment transactions will more than double in 2015 from the year before, and reach $8.71 billion, the report said. Meanwhile, by 2016, mobile payments transaction value will triple to $27.05 billion. Even more sobering, this value will more than double in 2017, and grow in excess of 80% through the rest of the forecast period. By 2020, the total value of mobile payment transactions in the U.S. will hit $210.45 billion, the report said.

Amazon Intros Restaurant Delivery on Prime Now in Baltimore

Amazon.com has announced that Prime Now customers in Baltimore can now enjoy one-hour delivery from local restaurants, including City Cafe, HomeSlyce, Indigma, Locust Point Steamers, Matsuri, Shiso Tavern, The Helmand, and many more local favorites. Using the Prime Now mobile app, Baltimore customers can view participating restaurants, browse menus, place orders, track the status of their delivery, and watch as the driver travels from the restaurant to the delivery address in real time. Once an order is placed, Amazon drivers deliver the food in an hour or less.
 
Restaurant delivery on Prime Now is available across ten zip codes in and around downtown Baltimore and will continue expanding restaurant selection in the coming weeks. Prime members can download the Prime Now app or visit amazon.com/primenow to enter their zip code and see if Prime Now is available in their area. In zip codes where restaurant delivery is available, customers will see Restaurants on the home page.
 
“Customers love the convenience of delivery and now with Prime Now they can enjoy high quality food from great chefs delivered within an hour,” said Gino Cardinale, owner, City Cafe. “City Cafe has been serving customers in Baltimore for over 21 years and we’re excited to work with Prime Now to offer customers a new, convenient way to enjoy great food from the comfort of their home.”
 
Restaurant delivery on Prime Now offers customers transparent pricing—there are no menu markups or hidden service fees and delivery on all orders is free for a limited time. Customers pay using the information already stored in their Amazon account and orders are backed by Amazon’s award-winning customer service.

Brick and Mortar's Latest Loss: Toys 'R Us Times Square

When you think of exemplary in-store customer experiences, a 60-foot indoor Ferris wheel is hard to top. The retail industry will lose another great flagship at the end of December when the iconic Times Square, New York City located Toys "R" Us closes its doors.

The retailer is not renewing its lease on the 110,000-square-foot store, Toys "R" Us spokeswoman Alyssa Peera told Business Insider. 

"We continue to explore alternative locations in the area," Peera said. "This process is ongoing."

Toys "R" Us also closed the FAO Schwarz flagship store this year, citing rising rent costs. The New York City-based FAO Schwarz store, known for its giant toy piano, was a major tourist destination made famous by the 1988 movie "Big."

Toys“R”Us Times Square opened in 2001 and boasts a 20-foot animatronic T-Rex dinosaur, a 4,000-square-foot, two-story Barbie dollhouse, and dedicated areas for interactive play, in addition to its well-known giant Ferris wheel.

For more information on New York City's most interesting brick and mortar locals, check out the "NYC 2016 Virtual Store Tour" session at NRF's Big Show 2016. This highly visual store tour presentation features video, photos, downloadable content and a tour map to provide inspiration and motivation to make the most of a visit to NYC.

Samsung Pay Adds Eight More Credit, Debit Card Issuers

In a move that further expands the breath of mobile payments, and its Samsung Pay service specifically, Samsung Electronics (www.samsung.com) now supports eligible Chase Visa credit, debit and Liquid cards, as well as debit and credit offerings from MasterCard issuers, and Navy Federal Credit Union Visa credit and debit cards. Cardholders of all these issuers will be able to use Samsung Pay almost anywhere they can swipe or tap their card.

Specifically, Samsung Pay now supports Chase’s Visa credit, debit and Liquid cards, including Citizens Equity First Credit Union, Randolph-Brooks Federal Credit Union, Security Service Federal Credit Union, State Employees’ Credit Union, and SunTrust and Virginia Credit Unions. These products, along with MasterCard’s issuers and Navy Federals’ Visa product, join Samsung Pay’s existing issuer base, which includes American Express, MasterCard and Visa, as well as major banks including Bank of America, Chase, Citi, Navy Federal Credit Union, SunTrust, U.S. Bank, and key partners, including Blackhawk Network, First Data, Global Payments, Synchrony Financial, TSYS, Vantiv, and Worldpay.

“With expanded support from eight additional issuers, including Chase and SunTrust, we look forward to building even more momentum around Samsung Pay,” said Injong Rhee, executive vice president of Samsung Electronics, global head of Samsung Pay. “Through our ever-expanding ecosystem of financial partners, Samsung Pay users will be able to take advantage of the most widely accepted mobile payment solution.”

Samsumg Pay users simply approach a terminal, swipe up the phone screen, scan their fingerprint and pay. This secure process is supported by a combination of tokenization, Samsung KNOX, and fingerprint authentication. Samsung Pay is compatible with most existing and new terminals, including most magnetic stripe, Europay, MasterCard, Visa (EMV) and near-field communications (NFC) terminals.