Thorntons has launched an outdoor campaign letting smartphone users scan a QR code and buy an Easter egg for 1p.
The mobile checkout technology – Simply Tap – has been introduced by Mobile Money Network (MMN) and is claimed to be the first transactional image recognition and QR code service.
A number of posters featuring an image of a Thorntons’ Easter egg have been assembled in London, letting Simply Tap users to try out the technology and buy one of a selection of Easter eggs from Thorntons for 1p.
Simply Tap is an instant mobile checkout provided by MMN. Users download the application from either the Apple App Store or Android Market and complete a simple one-off registration process.
Consumers can then buy direct from retailers signed up to MMN without the need to fill in forms and share their personal details. MMN is backed by Carphone Warehouse and Monitise and has Sir Stuart Rose, former CEO of Marks & Spencer as its non-executive chairman.
From today, retailers signed up to MMN’s Simply Tap service will be able to enable their customers to take a photo of the desired product or scan the related QR code through the Simply Tap app and instantly purchase it with a single tap on their mobile phone.
Retailers already partnering with MMN and lined up to use the new technology include Thorntons, HMV, Goldsmiths, the Hut Group, Pretty Green and Carphone Warehouse.
John Milliken, managing director of MMN, said: “Image recognition and transactional QR codes will allow retailers to convert more sales, and significantly increase revenue by turning every communication with the customer into a transaction opportunity. For the consumer, the benefit lies in allowing them to buy the products they want, when they want them, in one quick, safe and easy step. That could be when they pass a billboard on the bus in the morning, when they are using Facebook or when they are reading a magazine. ”
Matt King, head of Thorntons Direct, said: “Mobile payments have a significant future within the Thorntons business. Buying chocolate has always been about a mix of excitement and impulse so the Simply Tap service lends itself well to this. It complements all of our existing sales channels and adds punch and measurable impact to any communication with customers.”
