Mobile point-of-sale hardware is predicted to experience a compound annual growth rate of 11.4% over the next five years, reaching approximately $230 million, according to VDC Research. The market analyst firm reports that this growth is due to payment solutions being extended into the mobile market. For example, VeriFone, a widely recognized electronic payment solution provider, acquired Global Bay, a mobile payment platform, during November 2011, to increase retailer partnerships and extend enterprise mobility capabilities. Through the acquisition, GlobalBay is being integrated with VeriFone products and services.
The continual development of the GlobalBay platform will allow VeriFone to boost brand awareness and U.S. market penetration, which currently rests in the 65-70% range, according to Erik Vlugt, Vice President, Product Marketing, VeriFone Systems. Furthermore, the acquisition will help “catapult the GlobalBay product line into the market,” by promoting the benefits of combining mobilized services, access to unique product and customer information, and the in-store experience.
“Every retailer now knows that mobile is a ‘must have,’ not a ‘nice to have,’” Vlugt said. “There is tremendous new complexity hitting the POS industry. Retailers want to take advantage of all of these new payment applications, including Google Wallet, Isis, PayPal and mobile devices such as tablets, but need an integrated solution. VeriFone operates on behalf of the retailers to ensure existing payment infrastructures and methods work well while integrating new technologies and applications.”
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The GlobalBay for VeriFone solution will aid in line busting by incorporating mobile POS with features such as price check, customer loyalty programs and credit card enrollment. Clienteling and inventory management capabilities also will arm store associates with necessary resources and information to create a more engaging shopping experience, and increase cross-sell and upsell opportunities, Vlugt noted.
“Mobile is all about freeing up sales associates and managers to be on the floor to interact with customers and increase productivity,” Vlugt said. “More retailers are acknowledging that they can achieve ROI, increase retail floor space and improve the customer shopping experience by deploying and integrating mobile seamlessly with their current store systems. Our clienteling and iPad retailing app allows retailers to deploy look-books, product locator and suggestive selling to an interactive user interface, so the sales associate can show product without walking all over the store or leaving the customer’s side.”
During 2012, VeriFone plans to extend the GlobalBay product offering to a broader base of retail customers, as well as enhance the solution through product development, marketing and customer support, according to Vlugt. VeriFone also is working towards further integrations of the GlobalBay solution with established VeriFone customers.
