What’s in your wallet?

by Luis De La Cruz

All of my “short trips” to the grocery store always become a nightmare at about the point when, after wandering around the checkout counters looking for the one with the shortest line or the line with the emptiest carts, I am forced to wait in line for 10-20 minutes. I personally hate waiting in line. Fortunately, Google has an app for that. It is called Google Wallet. 

With this app Google is aiming to simplify the shopping experience at brick-and-mortar retailers. By the way, did I forget to mention that thousands, if not millions, of unproductive jobs could be eliminated as this and other similar apps become more popular?

So, this is how the solution works. On the software side, you can have one or more credit cards tied to your Google Wallet account. You can have gift cards and pre-paid cards tied to it as well. One additional benefit is pulling digital coupons from Google Offers and from sites such as Groupon and Living Social. On the hardware side, a highly secured NFC chip in your phone will communicate directly with the terminal located at the point of sale when you are ready to pay for your purchases. To be able to use your cell phone to pay for any purchase, you first have to enter a PIN to unlock the Wallet.

In the near future we can expect a host of retailers luring shoppers by offering special discounts and coupons that can be used only through Google Wallet. 

Although we are not there yet, the ultimate goal will be to have an integrated app that lets consumers scan the bar codes of the products that they drop into their carts so that, when they’re done shopping, they can hit the pay button on their cell phones and, voila!: no lines; no more rolling of eyes after seeing an old lady pull her wrinkled bills out of her money bag to dreadfully count bill after bill; no more exasperation with the die-hard coupon cutter ahead of you or with the heavy laden carts when you hold a single item purchase in your hand. Goodbye unloading and loading at the counter and welcome self checkout. No more worries about carrying my five credit or debit cards with me either.

But, not all is rosie. No one really wants to use a credit or debit card that needs a constant battery charge. And what about those unexpected crashes? To make matters worse, there is the issue of personal information.  How much is too much information in the hands of one company? Google already knows about my online habits and now is looking to know all of my shopping habits to exploit that information to gain more advertising revenue. Now Google will know my wants better than I know them myself. 

So how is this Wallet thing going to impact my shopping habits? First, as mentioned earlier, it will make it unnecessary to carry the seven credit/debit cards. As a mobile application, it will be more flexible than any traditional payment method. Options include integration of loyalty programs, gift cards, personal finance programs, etc. Finally, it will most likely make it possible to split payments across more than one payment method. Wallet will also make it easier to benefit from coupons and promotions. In sum it will simplify the shopping experience and retailers are hoping to see an increase in the number of shoppers that they have lost to online retailers.  Will this endeavor succeed? Well, I hope that it will at least do better than Google+.