According to a recent announcement from the massive retailer Target, the company is looking to take the next step towards using barcodes in retail by creating a customer loyalty rewards program that brings together mobile barcode scanners and
So how does it work? Well, first of all, you can now update your Target GiftCard via your mobile phone. You still need to have a GiftCard, but you can leave it at home, which means that people who forget them frequently can still get the same rewards. Just point your mobile browser at the Target mobile site, and it will display a mobile barcode that is linked to your card. By scanning that barcode at the point-of-sale (register), your loyalty points are automatically updated. That’s it – simple, easy, and a great way for frequent shoppers to get rewards.
Steve Eastman, President of Target.com said in regards to the new technology: “the addition of Mobile GiftCards to our suite of mobile shopping solutions further simplifies the Target experience for our guests. Consistent with our ‘Expect More. Pay Less.’ brand promise, we will continue to surprise and delight our guests with innovative and highly relevant mobile capabilities, enabling access to the Target experience anytime and anywhere.”
This step for Target is sure to mean a whole lot of other changes in the industry. More retailers will start to implement similar mobile barcode technologies into their shopping experiences to ensure customers keep coming back.