How Bluetooth Beacons Are Central to GoPago And Slyde Mobile Payment And Offers App

Bluetooth low energy beacons will play a key role in a mobile payment and loyalty service being developed by SK Planet Inc. and DoubleBeam Inc. that promises easier mobile payments and offer redemption.

The beacons connect Bluetooth low energy-compatible smart phones with DoubleBeam’s GoPago tablet-based point-of-sale system. Now in testing at several retail locations near Berkeley, Calif., the service is expected to be more broadly available this fall.

The scheme works like this. A consumer downloads the iOS or Android version of SK Planet’s Slyde mobile payments app to her iPhone or Android smart phone. Then she creates an account and stores her credit card data in the account. Debit cards are not yet accepted, but the capability to store them is in development, says Russ Eisenman, SK Planet head of marketing.

The Slyde app also does automatic check-in at locations, if enabled, tracks loyalty points, and stores offers to redeem. Bluetooth must be activated on the smart phone for the automatic check-in and payment.

In one example, a consumer might walk by a participating merchant location, which recognizes the consumer’s app and sends an offer. To make a purchase, the consumer enters the store to redeem the offer via the app without having to display her phone at checkout.

The system requires a checkout process. The consumer’s image, as set within the Slyde app, appears on the GoPago POS screen. The salesperson scans any items and verifies the user’s identity on screen to complete a payment. The consumer also receives an immediate push notification once a transaction happens. A receipt is emailed to the user. There is no barcode to scan or PIN code to enter.

Slyde enables merchants to market to consumers based on such data as frequency of visits, product preferences, and purchasing patterns, SK Planet says.

For the test, DoubleBeam is providing the POS equipment and Bluetooth beacons, says Ted Tekippe, DoubleBeam chief executive. GoPago, which uses an Android tablet, sells for $895, including the tablet, stand, cash drawer, and receipt printer, he says. As the service expands, merchants will have to get the beacons from DoubleBeam, too. Pricing for that component is not determined yet, Tekippe says.

DoubleBeam sells its POS system direct to merchants on its Web site, to enterprise, or large-scale, clients and via resellers such as independent sales organizations and agents. Tekippe won’t say which sales channel it might make the Slyde-GoPago system available to.

Pricing for merchant use of Slyde also is not set yet, says Eisenman says. “We have just commenced the pilot so revenue sources and partnerships are still being determined,” he says. Slyde also works with other POS systems, he adds.

Bluetooth beacons excite many in retail because of the potential for merchants to engage in personalized offers with the expectation of increasing revenue. Indeed, research firm ABI Research forecasts that 60 million Bluetooth beacons will be installed by 2019.

“We want to facilitate connections between small businesses and their customers,” Kihyun Jung, SK Planet chief operating officer and chief product offer, says in a news release.

But, just because the technology is there and vendors install it is no assurance of use, particularly in the face of possible consumer privacy concerns, says Paula Rosenblum, an analyst at Retail Systems Research. “It’s smart to be prepared from a systems perspective, but the jury is still out on whether consumers will accept in-store tracking,” Rosenblum says.

SK Planet is the U.S.-based unit of SK Telecom, a South Korea-based information company.