Mobile Self-Checkout iPhone App Launched by Children's Retailer

A Brookline, Mass.-based children’s retailer has pioneered a mobile self-checkout iPhone Application that also can be used for other retail channels, including grocery.

The AisleBuyer application, from the Cambridge, Mass.-based company of the same name (www.AisleBuyer.com), enables consumers to scan products and complete their purchases using only a smartphone, eliminating the need to wait in line. In addition to providing PCI-compliant self-checkout, the app provides access to product information, reviews/recommendations and behaviorally targeted coupons previously only available to online shoppers.

"As a retail company that serves parents, we are always on the lookout for new services and features that make life easier for our busy customers," said Sheri Gurock, co-owner of Magic Beans, AisleBuyer's launch partner. "This technology offers a more personalized shopping experience and allows us to provide our customers with the added convenience of self-checkout."

With the app, once a product bar code is scanned, shoppers can see product information, reviews and offers as they walk through the store. The app also includes a patent-pending mobile self-checkout and receipt system.

"The goal is to combine the best features from online shopping with the in-store experience," said Andrew Paradise, CEO of AisleBuyer. "In effect, we are turning smartphones into hand-held cash registers and information kiosks."

At the core of the platform is a complete analytics package that reflects how consumers interact with products from scan to checkout. It provides retailers with demographic, geographic and behavioral analytics as well as targeting benefits previously only available to online retailers. "Our retail partners can use this data to drive foot traffic through targeted, 'location-aware' offers; reduce the number of 'abandoned carts' through behaviorally targeted couponing; and even make better merchandising decisions," said Chuck Ball, EVP, head of marketing for AisleBuyer.

AisleBuyer's solution includes five modules:

• Digital Circular: Sends timely "location-based" store offers to customers at no "per-message" cost to deliver increased foot traffic
• Smart Clerk: Provides UPC scan of products to deliver product information, reviews, and social shopping features
• Dynamic Couponing: Serves behaviorally targeted and timely in-aisle coupons to automatically cross-sell product categories and increase consumer conversion
• Self-Checkout System: Allows customers to complete the transaction and avoid long lines via a patent-pending smartphone-based mobile self-checkout feature linked to preferred credit cards and retailer loyalty programs
• Advanced Analytics: Provides retailers with business intelligence and real-time behavioral metrics previously only available to online retailers

Magic Beans is a retail concept that offers a handpicked selection of baby gear and toys for all ages. It has stores in Brookline, Hingham, Wellesley and Cambridge, as well as an award-winning Web site, www.mbeans.com.