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Lucova's "Pay With Your Selfie" A Hit With Toronto Campus StudentsCould your smile be all you need to pay for your meal? The team at Lucova thinks so. Through partnerships with Compass (News - Alert) Group Canada, ITC Systems, Volante Systems and Humber College, the recently launched mobile application, ETUP (www.etupapp.com), provides students a completely hands-free experience. "Pay With Your Selfie," a concept that leverages Lucova's proprietary Bluetooth solution, and the first to be launched in campuses worldwide, matches the customer's image against a token-form of their credit, debit or meal plan card stored on their mobile phone to create a secure in-store transaction. Students quickly grasped onto the service as it offered faster checkouts and a more personal touch. "I use Starbucks app a lot of times and this is so much better…" wrote one user who reviewed the app on Apple (News - Alert) iTunes. Students were surprised to find the cashier taking the time to greet them by name during checkout, "…it was as if she knew me as a regular customer." Compass Group Canada, the Food Service operator at Humber College, explains the importance of building relationships with core customers and offering them a more personal expeience. With ETUP, they have the ability to better know the students and create promotions and offers catered to the needs of each. "The customer experience is central to our business and vision, " explains Humza Teherany, CIO at Compass Group, "and ETUP's unique technology and integration into the existing infrastructure provides the students at Humber College a vastly different and personal approach to the way food service is delivered on campuses." Integration into existing infrastructure was vital to ETUP's success. At Humber College, ITC Systems powers their meal plan card while Volante systems manages their point-of-sale terminals. Together with Lucova, the three platforms combined to provide a powerful and new way of operating in a campus environment with the focus on the customer experience. As with any business, relevant and timely data is invaluable to operations and ETUP provides more than just hands-free payments. The full solution offers back-office support with real-time data and analytics, combined with the unique ability to take action on the data using the platform's instant mobile marketing campaign feature which is fully integrated into the point-of-sale workflow. Early results have been impressive. Students who have downloaded the application and uploaded their selfie are visiting on average 3 times a week and have doubled their spend in a span of only two months. "Technology works best when it is hidden and focuses on the 'human element'," explains Amit Jhas, CEO Lucova. "Empowering frontline staff with access to real-time and relevant information is the key to unlocking true customer loyalty - and this can be as simple as providing staff the name of the customer who is standing right in front of them." The ETUP App is available for both iOS and Android (News - Alert). Lucova Inc. offers tools for brands to build unique in-store experiences including customer identity solutions, mobile hands-free payments, digital loyalty and mobile marketing campaigns. Founded in 2012, Lucova's proprietary technology powers various verticals including Retail, Hospitality, Quick Serve and Campuses. http://www.lucova.com/
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150716006346/en/ |
