Walmart has introduced a new means for their shoppers to pay for items using the retailers mobile app, effectively replacing the need to pay through credit card, cash or check.
The entry of Walmart into the in-store payments industry, with its mobile payment system called Walmart Pay, places it against players like Apple, Samsung, Google, and PayPal to give consumers a means of mobile payment, says Fortune. The mobile payment industry is foreseen to be a $142 billion industry by the time 2019 clocks in, according to Forrester Research.
Walmart Pay follows a move that the retail king made to shun Apple Pay in its stores, and gives more light to the company's recent moves. On Walmart's official news website, president and CEO of Walmart Global eCommerce, Neil Ashe, said that the in-house payment system is an addition to transforming the shopping experience for the 140 million people that shop with Walmart.
Twenty-two shoppers currently use the Walmart app that is available for both iOS and Android, and has features that include checking in to pick up an online order at a Walmart store, refilling pharmacy prescriptions and finding an item's store location.
The Walmart Pay system will make use of QR codes that will be displayed at the register during check out, as reported by Wired. The app makes use of a three step process: Open, Scan, Done. The transaction starts by opening the Walmart Pay app, scanning the code at the register and then checking out and bagging the products purchased.
Starting this month, shoppers can expect Walmart Pay to be available, but in selected stores only. The app will be released in all stores by the time the first half of 2017 comes.
Walmart currently operates 11,504 stores under 65 banners in 28 countries and e-commerce websites in 11 countries. In 2015, revenue was recorded to be $486 billion.
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