The future is coming and this is not it. A hats off to Google for undertaking the effort of creating a method of paying for goods in physical stores using Google Checkout and Android phones, but this attempt is just too complex to take off.
If you make a payment with a mobile phone you are choosing to not make that payment with cash or a card. Using your phone as a payment device must either be simpler and faster than either of those traditional methods, or provide some extra value that compensates for it not being as simple, or as easy. Given that cards and cash are simple, quick, and generally (if not completely, as with cash) secure, this new offering from Google needs to beat them at that game, or provide a serious ancillary value to the purchase to make the switch from cash and cards to mobile payments worth the work.
That is just not the case that we have seen from Google with their ‘Chrome Checkout Extension’ and its integration with Google Checkout on Android phones. ReadWriteWeb summarized well how you, the user, would employ the service in a store and how it interacts with the merchant you are trying to buy something from:
Google’s technology requires a little forethought from the merchant, but seems simple and safe in its execution. The merchant has to set up a Google Checkout merchant account, populate the store with merchandise and then install the Android Payment Chrome Extension. From there, when a customer wants to buy something, the merchant creates a shopping cart with those items on their computer. The extension will then create a QR code, which when scanned with the phone will take the customer to Google Checkout page where they can complete the transaction.
How likely does it sound that a major merchant would take the time to populate an online register with all of their items, then take the time to build you a shopping cart of your set collection of items, and then provide you with a QR code to scan with your phone which would then allow you to pay for your gum and toilet paper from your mobile. Given how much time, energy, and effort that requires, the answer is plainly that they won’t. The only real advantage to using this form of payment is that (assuming Google holds up), it is slightly safer than using your credit card on its own. While that is real advantage, it is hardly something to write home about.
Credit cards are popular because they are fast, and are safe enough for nearly everyone. If you don’t like them you can use cash. Where does a payment using a phone fit in? If this is the future, we need to tweak it so the transactional friction is far, far lower.
I totally agree to your thoughts. While there is an ease for the customer here, there is definitely a pain for the merchant. I would suggest that Google add bar-code readers instead of QR codes considering the fact that all products would have bar-codes and such codes needn’t really be created by the merchant. Also, when a shopkeeper enters a shop. he may register his account with the merchant’s account (via some kind of authentication) and then as and when he scans the bar-code, his shopping cart is billed and at the end, the payment is made. Not sure what your thoughts on this are.
I slightly disagree. Think about an ad – on paper, on a billboard, poster whatever. And now you just can buy it on impulse – here and now! It will take some time, but then it will transform everything. Check out http://www.shuitang.ch/qrcode and the Shui Tang ad on qrcode.kaywa.com to see it in action.
This article is 180 degrees in the wrong direction.
First, if you leave your phone behind, you can make purchases with cards/cash, but you can’t make calls, take pictures, or do many other things. However, if you leave your cards/cash behind, this new development allows you to do everything *and* still make purchases, as if you had cards/cash with you. That might seem like a minor benefit, but it’s the bulk of the advantage.
Second, while the article is correct in citing the labor needed to *initially* update inventory procedures to a Google database, ongoing maintenance should be no more difficult than with other systems. Furthermore, once entered to Google’s database, powerful information tracking and analysis are available, free, and in a superior fashion to alternatives. A win for the merchant.
Revolutionary move by Google, just like Android itself. This company is on the fringe of its next massive wave of innovations.
You guys are missing a huge point – what is a merchant’s motivation for setting this up? Is it less expensive that current options (debit, credit, etc?) Does it speed up my checkout process? Does it save me labor in my day to day operations? Does it drive incremental sales?
I don’t see an overwhelming business case for a sizable merchant to invest any effort in this, and along with the lack of consumer motive citied in the article, I don’t see this going anywhere.
Don’t get me wrong – I fully believe that the phone will incorporate wallet (purchase at POS) features in the near future, but this is not the way to make it happen.
Merchants would love to accept a lower cost tender than the current options, and with 2D barcodes on screen or NFC, phones can already communicate with a number of existing POS systems. It’s simple, convenient for both merchant and consumer, and with a PIN is more secure than the current credit card signature model.