What Could Wal-Mart Do With Square Mobile Credit Card Readers? [Updated] [24Oct11] - 0 views
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Square has struck a deal with Wal-Mart that will bring the dongle into retail stores across the country.
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In theory, Wal-Mart could arm all of the floor representatives with Square dongles and have customers in and out. It may even help alleviate long lines at the checkout.
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It is also imaginable that Wal-Mart could set up in-store payment kiosks away from the registers with the Square Register.
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It could just be a little booth in every department of a Wal-Mart that would be designed to handle payments for a couple of items.
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One of the biggest benefits for Square could be to get Wal-Mart to leverage its existing Card Case program that allows for simple payments and transaction information between the customer, the retailer and the payments platform. The Square Card Case was unveiled in May and initially only rolled out to five cities and 50 retail partners.
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Square posits the Card Case as an Amazon-style "one-click buying" method, except in the real-world as opposed to digital payments.
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Users that download the app can set up a "card" from a retailer and see what is happening with the retailer, from new deals to changes in the menu. Wal-Mart could institute the Card Case in a variety of ways, from the national level for what is happening with all Wal-Mart retail stores, to dedicating local managers to updating the card case for each individual store.
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In terms of that goal, the Wal-Mart adoption may have the affect of a giant marketing campaign. The greatest benefit to Square from Wal-Mart may not be actual transaction revenue, but helping to speed up the awareness and adoption of the platform.