iMobile3 and Twocanoes Partner to Bring Location-Based Offers and Payment to Retailers
Mobile wallets combine with beacon devices and point-of-sale systems to raise the in-store shopping experience.
Jacksonville, Fla. January 13, 2014 – Most shoppers don’t know it, but their in-store experiences are about to get a whole lot better. The combination of mobile wallets, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) devices (also called “beacons”), and the retailer’s point-of-sale terminal is enabling a new class of customer-retailer interactions. The partnership between iMobile3 and Twocanoes is at the forefront in making the promise of close-proximity, location-based mobile offers and payment a reality.
iMobile3 today released the US Patent Pending, Beacon Edition of its industry-leading mobile wallet platform – PassMarket. The combination of PassMarket and Twocanoes’ Bleu Stations – which can pinpoint the location of individual shoppers with a range of several feet to a few inches – allows merchants to deliver special offers based upon a consumer’s location within the store. Integrating PassMarket Beacon Edition with the retailer’s point-of-sale allows consumers to make payment directly from their PassMarket Wallet and never swipe a credit or debit card.
PassMarket is a sophisticated system that allows merchants to quickly create passes (micro apps that can be downloaded to a mobile wallet), connect the passes to consumer mobile devices, capture the passes at the point of sale, contact consumers with offers and messages, and chart the success of their pass campaigns.
“Twocanoes was a natural choice for delivering PassMarket Beacon Edition because of its innovative hardware and leadership position,” said Bob Leonard, iMobile3 CEO. “We are excited about helping our customers be some of the first retailers on the planet to begin deployment of beacon-enabled mobile offers throughout the store and mobile payments at the register.”
In December, CNNMoney reported that Bluetooth 4.0 (which includes BLE) could become the standard for mobile payments thanks to its precision, ultra low power, and convenience (you don’t have to remove your phone from your pocket to make a purchase). ABI Research estimates that the installed base of Bluetooth-enabled devices reached 3.5 billion in 2012 and forecasts that number to be almost 10 billion by 2018.
Timothy Perfitt, President of Twocanoes, is enthusiastic about the future of BLE devices and the recent partnership. “iMobile3 has established themselves as a powerhouse in mobile wallet and retail solutions. Our hardware and deployment technology simplifies beacon deployment and is a great match with iMobile3’s solution. We are blown away by what they have been able to do with our hardware. Our partnership with iMobile3 gives retailers the tools to transform the customer experience today.”
About iMobile3
iMobile3 is mobilizing the most recognized brands on the planet and transforming the retail industry with its mobile product and services. With hundreds of millions of dollars in commerce processing through mobile applications deployed at leading retailers, travel, financial services, home sales, and delivery clients, iMobile3 has become a global leader in the development of enterprise mobile applications and payment solutions. iMobile3 has also published PassMarket – the industry’s first mobile wallet enablement program designed to place any business inside the leading mobile wallets including Apple Passbook and Google Wallet. Visit www.imobile3.com and www.passmarket.com to learn more.
About Twocanoes
Twocanoes is the leader in proximity hardware and large-scale beacon deployment software. Leveraging proven success in innovative deployment solutions, Twocanoes introduced Bleu Station, iBeacon compatible hardware with tightly integrated, low cost deployment solutions. Twocanoes’ zero touch and high volume deployment strategy simplifies beacon provisioning for organizations with a large number of physical locations. Twocanoes Software is located in Naperville, IL. Visit twocanoes.com and bleu.io to learn more.