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Real-time Discounts With Apple Pay® Yield Big Results

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IntroductionApple Pay® typically offers a faster transaction and can lead to quicker lines, which is great for both customers and merchants. But is it possible to increase average transaction amount with Apple Pay over other forms of payment and maintain or even improve the customer experience?

Traditionally, a retailer’s options to increase traffic or transactions are limited to solutions like sales, couponing, or even statement credits — each of which has its own challenges, shortcomings, and suboptimal experiences. In working with Apple Pay, a real-time discounts feature was created on the Genius platform, which creates an efficient, effective, and customer-friendly way to increase sales and the overall shopping experience.

Recently, two important tests using real-time discounts with Apple Pay were conducted with the Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC) store at Banc of California stadium, and the 40-store beauty retailer Planet Beauty, with headquarters in Newport Beach, California.

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LAFC teamed up with Apple Pay, POSitive Technologies POS, and the Genius platform to offer a 20% real-time discount. Leading up to each match, they spread word of the offer through all of their channels including social, email, digital, and with signage at the stadium and store during each

of the games.

Going into the test, the team at LAFC expected the discount to perform well, but they had no idea how well. Christian Lau, VP IT at LAFC reported, “Total sales volume was stunning.” The average Apple Pay transaction was more than double regular card transactions, which more than compensated for the real-time discount. Additionally, overall transactions increased 10% at the LAFC store, beating store targets by 20%.

Real-time discounts at LAFC

Furthering the success of the test was the overall increase in Apple Pay use. Before the test, Apple Pay was used in 7% of card transactions, but during the test it climbed to an impressive 45% of card transactions. Lau noted that the incentive specifically inspired customers in the store to set up Apple Pay on the spot.

“One of the biggest surprises was the number of customers who set-up Apple Pay while in store,” he said. “And once they found out how easy it was to use, they continued to use it throughout their time in our venue.”

Transactions . . .On average Apple Pay transactions

were more than double regular card transactions

2xHigher Transactions 7%

Before45%

After

Apple Pay in action . . .Overall increase in Apple Pay

usage in card transactions

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Apple Pay purchases at concession stands increased by 9% to 14% of overall transactions during the three-match test and overall transactions increased a generous 10% over the previous three-game period. It’s important to note that a huge factor in the test was having well-trained staff.

Results beyond the test

With the impressive sales results from the test, it’s easy to overlook one other win for LAFC that Lau elaborated on. “Apple Pay real-time discounts ended-up being more than a simple discount promotion,” he said. “The data and insight we obtained in relation to consumer behavior and how we can leverage Apple Wallet for a broader set of offerings made this test priceless.”

“People shy away from technology or the fear of interacting with

Apple Pay at the terminal,” Lau said. “Having staff on hand to show

them how easy it is to use, broke down that psychological barrier.”

10%Increase in Transactions Over Previous Period

“People shy away from technology or the fear of interacting with Apple Pay at the terminal,” Lau said. “Having staff on hand to show them how easy it is to use, broke down that psychological barrier.”

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At Planet Beauty, Apple Pay, Teamwork Retail POS and the Genius platform offered the real-time Apple Pay discount of 25% over a two-day period. And just like LAFC, Planet Beauty let customers know in advance via email and in store through the use of promotional signage and balloons. They also made sure the sales team was properly trained on the discount and Apple Pay so they’d be comfortable helping customers use the discount and even set up Apple Pay if necessary.

A compelling offer and solid planning delivered results that were just as impressive as those at LAFC. During the Planet Beauty test, the average Apple Pay transaction was 52% higher than standard card transactions, and Apple Pay transactions went from 1-2% of card transactions to a whopping 35% of

Similar results at Planet Beauty

card transactions. The Planet Beauty marketing lead was just as impressed with the results from Apple Pay, Teamwork Retail POS, and the Genius platform. “Thank you for all your help during this. Your team has been great throughout this process."

These early indicators suggest real-time discounts via Apple Pay can help provide significant improvements across multiple KPIs. Similar to the many years of testing around traditional couponing, ongoing testing is necessary to continuously improve the effectiveness of real-time discounts.

If you'd like to conduct your own real-time discount test with Apple Pay or simply want to learn more contact your TSYS Sales Representative or Relationship Manager.

1-2%Before

35%After

Sales volume . . .Apple Pay transactions averaged

a higher sales volume than regular card transactions

52%Transactional Sales Volume

Apple Pay in action . . .Overall increase in Apple Pay

usage in card transactions

To learn more, contact: Harry HargensVP, Business Development404.790.8484

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