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Easy Chip

Contactless Payment

Overview

Task

Our project started with research on RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology. We then had to pick an industry that could benefit from this technology, so we chose retail. Identified the technology, understood what it does and how it works. Learned more about the key people that led the innovation in the industry and any breakthroughs. We then identified a few key products in which this technology can be found, what the product does, and how it leverages this technology.

Challenge

Create a product that will create a better user experience for contactless payment in the retail industry. Keeping in mind all the current contactless payment issues. (Try to solve those issues with our product) Ways to implement our solutions without having the current users to spend lots of money on integration. Making our product easy to implement and use for both the business owners and everyday consumers. 

Solutions

Our understanding of the application in RFID in retail:

1. Inventory management:

Minimize out-of-stock situations by tracking inventory throughout the supply chain i.e. from warehouse shelves to the sales floor.

Provide real-time merchandise location data

2. Contactless payment:

Used in the retail industry to make fast and secure contactless payments using RFID or NFC(Near Field Communication) technology. Even though there are already contactless payment systems, but none of them are unified and can be an inconvenience for the users. We decided to make do some more research and find out what the users think of the current contactless payment systems. 

Timeline

2 week of industry/product research

2 weeks of user research

2 week of wireframing

1 week of prototyping

Role

User research

User interviews

Product design

User Research

Planning

1. Identified the goals

  • To understand people’s experience using digital wallets

  • To make the payment process quicker, more convenient and hassle-free

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2. Set-up the recruit

Looked for 10 people who:

  • Used at least one of the popular digital wallets

  • Have been using it for at least six months

The interview would last approximately 30 minutes and be conducted in-person.

Participants received free coffee for their time. 

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3. Writing the protocol:

The protocol consisted of background questions, main questions, and closing questions all of them which were framed in such a way that they are open-ended. Some example questions:

How do you interact with your digital wallet? Can you take us through the entire process?

Has there ever been a time when you decided not to use a digital wallet? What happened then?

Demographics:

Conducted seven User Interviews

Age: 20 - 30 years

Gender: 4 Male and 3 Female

Findings

From the interviews we took, we found that people use digital wallets due to its convenience and flexibility which is exactly what a digital wallet is meant to offer to their target audience. Over half of our interviewees think that digital wallet makes their life easier. While there are a few additions to that such as forgetting wallet and society trend/ culture (which will be mentioned in the insight section). Another interesting insight was on reasons people decided to stop using their digital wallet. One of our interviewees said that she decided to stop using a digital wallet because she has to ask at every store which digital wallet they accept. These are some of the great findings that can turn into our insights on users' behavior and let us fix their problems.

Culture Differences

As mentioned earlier, most of our interviewees decided to use the digital wallet because of convenience. However, some of them use digital wallets because they were from China were digital wallets were widely used. In China, the two biggest digital wallet platforms are WeChat and Alipay. They have become so popular that no one uses cash or credit/debit cards. Even street food vendors and taxi drivers use mobile payments instead of cash. Therefore, even people who would rather use cash are forced into using digital wallets. This cultural difference is certainly insightful for how Chinese digital wallets are so successful compared to the ones available in the US which are Samsung pay, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. Also, the readers used in the stores in the US generally accept only one type of digital wallet compared to China where most places accept both payment platforms. Another reason would be that certain places have a fixed minimum purchase, hence if customers are not buying things worth that minimum amount, they will not be able to pay with the digital wallet.

Key problems uncovered:

 

  • Compatibility: Digital wallets are not always compatible with the store’s payment system

  • Availability: Digital payments are not accepted in all stores

  • Brand bias: All stores do not accept all-digital payment platforms. Some stores also have their own digital wallets.

  • Acceptance: Users find it annoying to constantly having to ask the stores if they will accept their specific digital wallet 

Solutions -  Easy Chip

Our Solution - Easy Chip!

  • EasyChip is a small device that stores can attach to their existing payment systems to enable all forms of digital payments. It accepts Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, and even cryptocurrency.

  • The device works on NFC technology, a type of RFID that helps quicken the payment process for the customers.

supply chain i.e. from warehouse shelves to the sales floor.

Provide real-time merchandise location data

2. Contactless payment:

Used in the retail industry to make fast and secure contactless payments using RFID or NFC(Near Field Communication) technology.

We decided to go forward with developing a contactless payment product, as it was a practical choice for us to be able to find participants for User Research the next week.

Storyboarding

Prototype

Size: 8cm*6.5cm*1cm

Device Specifications:

 

  1. NFC Contactless payment

  2. 6 cm LCD screen

  3. Sound notifications

  4. Provides analytics

  5. USB C

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Model

Business Model

Freemium Model:
Business owners will get a free device with no processing fee on every payment they receive.

Premium Model:
For advanced analytics, they will have to upgrade to premium by paying $9.99/ month.

Analytics

Business owners will be able to create an account on the EasyChip app/website which will tell them how to:

  1. Select the right items to put into the store with the right price positioning and optimal promotion.

  2. Reduce out of stock through sales forecasting and identification of root causes

  3. Optimize marketing spending and deliver the right message to the right people and improve conversion rates.

Benefits

  1. Convenience

  2. Improved User Experience for shoppers

  3. Easy installation

  4. Free device

  5. Advanced analytics on premium subscription

  6. Reduced wait-time in queues

  7. Security and efficiency

Limitations 

  1. Not completely free from risk in terms of privacy and security

  2. New payment methods (kiosks with integrated mobile payment) that are more economical could make this technology obsolete

  3. Hardware compatibility

Future of RFID in Retail

The retail industry is still in the early days of mass RFID adoption.
Companies will initially fear the cost, but if we can eliminate the barrier of installation and provide great customer experience, its acceptance is inevitable in the coming years.

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