News from the Wire

Pay By Touch adds card option to SmartShop service

Wednesday, May 09, 2007 — 11:53:25 (EDT)

2007 FMI SHOW+MARKETECHNICS & SAN FRANCISCO, CA – (May 7, 2007) – To facilitate rapid consumer adoption and give merchants maximum flexibility, Pay By Touch has added a card-based option to its biometric SmartShop™ service. SmartShop, powered by Pay By Touch, gives shoppers customized offers on the products they buy most when they enter the store – before they shop. %%N%%NPay By Touch, the leader in biometric payment and personalized marketing, is offering card-based SmartShop in addition to the biometric SmartShop service, which launched at NRF in January, 2007. SmartShop provides merchants and consumer packaged goods companies (CPGs) with an unprecedented return on investment (ROI) by enabling them to deliver the right offer to the right shopper at the right time – both in-store and online. %%N%%N“At Pay By Touch, we understand that each retailer is unique. Card-based SmartShop enables merchants to immediately engage their best shoppers by letting them use their existing loyalty cards to get personalized offers,” said John Rogers, Founder, Chairman and CEO, Pay By Touch. “SmartShop offers unparalleled, automated targeting based on preferences in each particular store. There is no better way for merchants and manufacturers to reach their targets.”%%N%%NResearch shows that 70 percent of buying decisions are made in-store, and that less than one percent of grocery store coupons are ever redeemed[1]. As a result, millions of marketing dollars are wasted every year. SmartShop turns every shopper into a uniquely qualified marketing lead and delivers value to consumers, merchants and manufacturers alike. %%N%%NSmartShop enhances retailers’ existing loyalty programs by delivering added value to their most important customers. It also provides a robust loyalty solution for retailers who do not yet have a program in place. Best of all, SmartShop ‘learns’ from each shopping trip to generate the next set of relevant rewards. %%N%%NCard-based SmartShop at Shop ‘n Save and Foodtown Stores.%%N%%NCard-based SmartShop has been implemented by Shop ‘n Save stores in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area, as well as Foodtown stores in New York and New Jersey. These merchants will migrate to biometric SmartShop, and adopt Pay By Touch’s biometric payment solution, to let shoppers identify themselves, pay for purchases and redeem rewards with the simple touch of a finger.%%N%%N“We are extremely pleased with the SmartShop service, which is branded ‘Shop ‘n Save Personalized Perks’ in three of our Pittsburgh-area stores,” said Greg Hartley, Owner of three Shop 'n Save locations. “The service is a huge hit with our shoppers, with kiosks in each store receiving more than 300 visits a day. We are excited to continue using the program and we are looking forward to seeing the kiosk in other Shop 'n Save stores."%%N%%NEarly results reveal the value of the SmartShop service. These merchants can experience:%%N%%N- Twenty to 50 percent shopper adoption of SmartShop %%N- Eight to 12 percent sales lift among customers using SmartShop %%N- A 25 to 30 percent reduction in advertising and direct mail printing and distribution costs %%N %%NSC Johnson Among Early CPG Adopters%%N%%NAlready, several leading CPGs have joined the program, including SC Johnson and more. These companies are leveraging the SmartShop platform to deliver personalized, highly relevant coupons and deepen their relationships with consumers. With SmartShop, CPGs can experience:%%N%%N- Twenty percent+ sales lift %%N- Four to five times greater redemption rates than traditional FSIs %%N- Twenty to 50 percent reduction in marketing costs per unit sold at retail %%N- A significant reduction in handling costs %%N %%NHow SmartShop Works: %%N%%N1. When shoppers enter the store, they simply scan their loyalty card at the SmartShop kiosk to get personalized offers based on their purchase history. %%N%%N2. Shoppers receive an 8 ½ x 11 print-out with 16 customized offers on the products they buy most, and then head into the aisles to shop.%%N%%N3. Shoppers scan their loyalty card at check-out to redeem their offers. They do not need to bring the print-out to check-out; no paper coupons are required.%%N%%NSmartShop gives merchants customer-based metrics and accurate data that improves the efficacy of marketing efforts. It is easy to implement, with a Web-based management system for algorithmic campaign creation and real-time targeting. The service provides robust analytics to make reporting and account settlement both easy and accurate.%%N%%NAvailability: The card-based version of SmartShop, powered by Pay By Touch, is available now. For sales inquiries, call Sarah Cole at (415) 371-5620 or email her at sarah.cole@paybytouch.com.%%N%%NAbout Pay By Touch%%N%%NPay By Touch (www.paybytouch.com) is the global leader in biometric authentication, personalized marketing and payment solutions. Already, more than 3.7 million consumers are using Pay By Touch services to identify themselves, make purchases, cash checks and get personalized savings with the touch of a finger. Pay By Touch services are free for consumers to use and available in more than 2,400 retail locations across 44 states, the UK and Singapore. Pay By Touch also provides robust data management and payment processing solutions for ACH (electronic checking), card-present and card-not-present debit and credit transactions for retail clients. Founded in 2002 and headquartered in San Francisco, Pay By Touch employs 800 professionals and holds more than 60 patents worldwide on secure, convenient and cost-effective transaction solutions.%%N%%NSource: Company press release

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Source: Company press release.