Tag: samsung

Apple Pay is beginning to establish a foothold among retailers in the US

Apple Pay is slowly gaining momentum despite the relatively large number of retailers that are simply not ready to accept mobile payments. Apple’s new payment platform is nearly a month old now and has yet to find the monumental success that Apple had hoped to see in a relatively short amount of time. Apple’s retail partners have been somewhat impressed with the payment service however, reporting an increase in mobile spending among customers.

McDonald’s reports significant growth in mobile transactions, thanks to the Apple Pay service

McDonald’s is one of the early adopters of Apple Pay, having deployed the service in 14,000 stores throughout the U.S. The company has announced that Apple Pay accounts for 50% of its mobile transactions. The number of people  making payments through the service at McDonald’s stores has been growing significantly over the past few weeks. Other retailers, such as Whole Foods, have reported similar results, with Whole Foods reporting that more than 150,000 mobile transactions have been made through Apple Pay since launch.

Retailers are looking for new services they can use to effectively engage mobile consumers

Retailers have shown strong interest in mobile payments for some time, but few have made steps to engage the mobile audience in the past. With the demand for mobile-centric services on the rise, retailers have been looking for platforms they can use to accommodate this demand. Apple Pay is a relatively new service, but has managed to help retailers engage mobile consumers and an effective way.

No lack of competition for Apple Pay

Apple is competing with several other large companies that have entered into the mobile payments space with their own platforms. Google is one such company, having launched its Wallet platform in 2011. Samsung recently unveiled plans to launch its own mobile payment service, which will initially only be available in the Asian market. Several small companies also offer mobile payment services, some of which are actually more popular than those offered by their larger counterparts.

The electronics company has now started its first deal for pushing wearables through the English rugby team.

Samsung has now taken its first step into English rugby as the beginning of a three year deal that it has established with the national team, with the purpose of boosting its presence within the wearable technology environment.

This will make Samsung the first official wearables and overall home tech partner to the Rugby Football Union (RBU).

Samsung will be working with the RBU team in order to boost wearable technology awareness not only among consumers but also on a B2B level throughout the approach to the World Cup next year. This is an entirely new strategy of sponsorship for the business, which has been wrapped up in UK football through its various deals with Leyton Orient, Chelsea FC, and Swindon Town.

Samsung believes that this wearable technology sponsorship strategy will be a very powerful one.

The company feels that the popularity of the World Cup in the host country, as well as in the United Kingdom, South Africa, and Australia – other countries where it sponsors the national teams – has been turning rugby into a “big deal” for the company’s global targets. The majority of the consumer facing activity that is occurring within the United Kingdom, through the deal, will be internet based, and will likely primarily be through the 2,000 affiliated RFU grassroots clubs.

Samsung is going to provide those clubs with access to training facilities, changing rooms, and coaching packages that have been technologically enhanced in order to better illustrate the value of wearables and its other electronics in the sports ecosystem. Furthermore, there are some videos designed to be funny and amusing that are also being prepared in order to further expand the awareness of the global tie-up in advance of a larger rallying call to the country as next September’s tournament nears.

A competition called the “Samsung Try of the Month” will also continue to run the length of the 2014/14 season as players and fans, alike, are encouraged to head online and upload their nominations. Every month, a different rugby personality in England will take part in this wearable technology and electronics campaign in order to select the winning club that will receive a clubhouse facilities upgrade worth £1,000 in Samsung products.