Startup company in mobile payments focuses on both transactions and loyalty benefits.
This year, mobile wallets are finally catching on, as many were hoping would occur in 2011, and startup business, LevelUp, is throwing down its own gauntlet with a unique angle designed specifically for patrons of restaurants, which uses a QR code.
The company is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and is placing a focus on customer loyalty in the strategy for its mobile payments app. It works by allowing restaurant customers to use their smartphones to scan a barcode to simplify the checkout process while they simultaneously take advantage of loyalty specials.
LevelUp marketing director, Matt Kiernan, pointed out that it also helps companies to learn more about consumers.
Kiernan explained that “When customers have a quick and easy way to do business with a vendor they love, they end up shopping their more and spending more money.” He added that “Wait times are going down and the amount people spend is rising when these simple tech additions are incorporated.”
There is a 2 percent flat fee charged by LevelUp to merchants in approximately 9 cities who use this service, which is free for consumers. All smartphone using customers need to do to take advantage of the process is to scan the QR code and follow the brief instructions.
Many businesses are offering a discount incentive or deal for customers who use the app.
The merchants who want to use the service can either download a free app for their own mobile devices so that they can read the scanner barcodes and set up the mobile check-out option, or they can rent a scanner device for $25 per month. Many small vendors and businesses are finding that that is a much more affordable and practical option, particularly when they, themselves, are mobile.
Additional features included in the merchant QR code scanner are also available to the merchant if they wish to use them. For example, they are able to customize the barcode’s colors so that they appear to flash on the screen when a successful scan has occurred. LevelUp has also announced that it is looking into point-of-sale options at restaurants and retailers.
