News

Children's retailer Magic Beans adds mobile self-checkout

August 16, 2010

AisleBuyer has announced the launch of its virtual assistant and mobile self-checkout system. According to the company, AisleBuyer technology enables consumers to scan products and complete their purchases using only a smartphone, eliminating the need to wait in lines. In addition to providing PCI compliant self-checkout, the application provides access to product information, reviews/recommendations and behaviorally targeted coupons previously only available to online shoppers.

Anyone with an iPhone who enters a store powered by AisleBuyer simply needs to download the application from the iTunes App store. Once a product barcode is scanned, shoppers can see product information, reviews and offers as they walk through the store. But what really sets the AisleBuyer platform apart is the patent-pending mobile self-checkout and receipt system.  

"The goal is to combine the best features from online shopping with the in-store experience," said Andrew Paradise, CEO of AisleBuyer. "In effect, we are turning smartphones into handheld cash registers and information kiosks, dramatically increasing both customer satisfaction and retail checkout efficiencies."

As a retail company that serves parents, Magic Beans is always on the lookout for new services and features that make life easier for busy customers, said Sheri Gurock, co-owner of Magic Beans, AisleBuyer's Massachusetts-based launch partner.

"This technology offers a more personalized shopping experience and allows us to provide our customers with the added convenience of self-checkout," she said.

At the core of the platform is a complete analytics package that reflects how consumers interact with products from scan to checkout. It provides retailers with demographic, geographic and behavioral analytics as well as targeting benefits previously only available to online retailers.  

"Our retail partners can use this data to drive foot traffic through targeted, location-aware offers; reduce the number of abandoned carts through behaviorally targeted couponing; and even make better merchandising decisions," said Chuck Ball, EVP, head of marketing for AisleBuyer. "One study showed that nearly 70 percent of shoppers abandoned a purchase last holiday season at an average cost of $109 per shopper to the retailer."

AisleBuyer's end-to-end solution includes 5 modules:

• Digital Circular: Sends timely location-based store offers to customers at no per-message cost, delivering increased foot traffic.
• Smart Clerk: Provides UPC scan of products to deliver product information, reviews and social shopping features.
• Dynamic Couponing: Serves behaviorally targeted and timely in-aisle coupons to automatically cross-sell product categories and increase consumer conversion.
• Self-Checkout System: Allows customers to complete the transaction and avoid long lines via a patent-pending smartphone-based mobile self-checkout feature linked to preferred credit cards and retailer loyalty programs.
• Advanced Analytics: Provides retailers with unprecedented business intelligence and real-time behavioral metrics previously only available to online retailers. This data is critical to providing personalized offers, making better buying/merchandising decisions and identifying high-value shoppers.