移动钱包单枪匹马成不了气候

    今天的所谓“移动钱包”很不幸地成了一个自找麻烦的解决方案。消费者对自己的信用卡和借记卡已经很满意了，它们很有效、很快捷，而且我们对它们都很熟悉了。另一方面对于零售商来说，虽然他们可能总是抱怨信用卡的手续费太高，但是一旦面临安装下一代的“钱包”时，他们还得担心许多新问题。从小处说，这意味着要取代他们已经投资的成熟可靠的信用卡支付系统，而且这个系统每天都成功处理着几百万起交易。更重要的是，他们还得面对在线竞争和产品展示等更大的战略问题。移动支付的问题就是，支付本身在购物世界中并不是个问题。

    那么问题到底是什么？问题在于购物的体验。100年前，当你作为一名顾客走近本地的一家商店时，售货员可能会直接亲切地叫出你的名字，然后问你，你的孩子喜不喜欢他上周卖给你的麦片。而今天，在你刷卡之前，没有人会问候你，因为商店里的人甚至不会注意到你在那儿。也就是说，直到你结束了寻找商品的过程离开时，人家才会注意到你。没有人会在商店里向你展示和介绍你可能喜欢的东西——一切都是没有人情味儿的。随着零售业规模的扩大，购物已经变得没有人情味儿了。

    讽刺的是，要想让购物变得再次有人情味儿，唯一的方法是加入更多的科技，而不是减少科技，而智能手机正是其中的关键。在像商店这样的非互动性的环境中，智能手机是消费者携带的唯一一个互动媒介。这就是为什么我们说智能手机已经成了新的售货员，它可以给实体商店的购物体验增加深度的人性化元素。它可以在你进店的时候说欢迎，让商店里的商品变得有生活气息，给你进店购物的奖励，告诉你你可能会喜欢什么，提醒你你的家人可能会喜欢什么等等。

    实现这些的关键不仅仅在于支付，而是在于整个购物体验中的许多触点。支付只发生在购物过程已经结束的时候。换句话说，到了这个时候，购物篮已经放到了收银台上，已经不能再做更改了，付完钱你就要走人了。因此等到顾客付钱的时候再接触他们已经太晚了，对他们的购物体验和他们采购的商品都无法造成影响。

    如果整个体验从顾客进店时就开始了，而不是从他们走出商店时开始，那又会变成什么样子？如果从你刚刚走入商店起，你的“钱包”就可以扩展它的功能，它的整个价值就会改变——当你进入商店的时候，你要买东西，你要花钱，但你不确定你要买什么。这意味着如果我能让你在商店的入口打开一款移动应用，它就可以指引你在商店里购物，做你的购物小伴侣，使整个过程重新具有人性化和人情味儿。这样一来，你在商店购物的时间会变得更长，也会真正享受购物的过程，因此也会更加经常地回到这里。

    Mobile wallets as they are defined today are unfortunately a solution in search of a problem. Consumers are quite happy with their credit and debit cards…they work, they're fast and they're familiar. And retailers, while they may complain about credit card fees, have bigger strategic issues with online competition and showrooming than to worry about installing the next "wallet" created to replace tried and true payment systems they've already invested in – and successfully process millions of transactions every day. The problem with mobile payments is that payment isn't a problem in the shopping world.

    So, what is the problem? The problem is the experience of shopping. One hundred years ago, as a customer, you'd have been greeted by name when you walked into a local store. The shopkeeper would have asked you whether your kids liked the cereal he sold you last week. Nowadays no one "greets" you until you swipe your credit card because it isn't until that point when the store finds out you are even there – that means, as you leave, when you are no longer looking for items to purchase. No one shows you something that *you* might like at the store while shopping – everything is impersonal. By scaling retail, shopping has become inhuman.

    The ironic twist is that the only way we can make shopping more human again, is by adding more technology, not less. The smartphone is the key. It is the only interactive medium consumers carry with them in a non-interactive environment like a store, and that is why smartphones are the new shopkeeper, capable of adding a deeply personalized lens on top of the physical store experience. It can be welcome you when you walk-in, make products come to life in the store, reward you for being there, point out things you might like, remind you what your family likes, and so on.

    All of that hinges not on the payment but on many touchpoints throughout the shopping experience. The payment only happens when the purchase is already done, in other words, when the entire basket is set and cannot be altered anymore. It's paid for! You're on your way out. Thus, touching-base with the shopper when they pay is way too late to make any impact on either their experience or on the purchases in their basket.

    What if the experience hinged on the walk-in to the store, not the walk-out? If the wallet can extend its relevancy to the moment you enter the store, its whole value changes: you are about to make purchasing decisions, you are about to spend money, you just don't know yet exactly whatyou will buy. That means if I can get you to open an app at the entrance of a store, it can guide you through the store, be your shopping friend and companion, and re-humanize and personalize the entire experience. As a result you would shop longer at the store, actually enjoy being there and therefore come back more often.