I came across these "bedroom comfort, boardroom style" pants while recently surfing on my mobile phone. I was even thinking about purchasing them, but the reality of tediously typing all my credit card and billing information into my smartphone, caused me to abandon ship.
If only I'd known about Visa's new service. Visa Checkout is a brand new system that removes the payment process barrier on your smartphone. Visa Checkout stores customers' credit card numbers and billing addresses once without having to re-enter the information ever again. Retailers that sell in the digital space — from big-box retailers to mom and pop startups — have all struggled with converting filled online shopping carts into actual purchases.
"All of the wonderful benefits that consumers get from using their mobile phone when you're out and about kind of fall apart when you get to the payment part of the process," said Jim McCarthy, Visa global head of product in a recent NPR interview.
The concept of ordering is simple and similar to 1-Click™ from Amazon. Every Visa customer receives an account that stores his or her credit card number and billing address. These shoppers simply set up a username and password and all the information is provided securely to the retailers. Thusfar, Neiman Marcus and United Airlines have joined the merchant list and many more and ready to sign up.
Soon, I'll be wearing sweatpants to the office. The question is, will shoppers adopt the Visa Checkout system? What impact will it have on smartphone shopping? Will it convert online browsers to buyers?
Photo Source: Betabrand
