Mastercard Launches Frictionless Retail Technology Solutions to Enable Touchless Economy
As merchants navigating the impacts of COVID-19 seek out enhanced technology for in-person engagement, Mastercard today announced a new suite of frictionless solutions for retailers to reimagine their physical shopping experience. Applicable and adaptable to any retail environment – from restaurants to pharmacies – Mastercard’s Shop Anywhere and AI Powered Drive Through solutions deliver low touch, high engagement experiences for retailers and the end consumer.
The Shop Anywhere platform, supported by AI and computer vision technology partner Accel Robotics, enables retailers to create simple, personalized shopping experiences in stores based on consumers’ needs and without compromising privacy.
The Shop Anywhere platform improves the speed of the shopper journey by eliminating existing points of friction through robust inventory and participating shopper analytics – offering consumers no wait, no checkout lines, and secure payments. Shop Anywhere can also give shoppers access to stores outside of normal opening hours if selected by the retailer, in addition to unique and exclusive merchandise.
The AI Powered Drive Through platform, provided in partnership with SoundHound Inc. and Rekor Systems (Nasdaq: REKR), can help quick service restaurant brands transform their drive through or drive in interactions through vehicle recognition, voice ordering, and artificial intelligence.
Consumers can receive personalized and dynamic menu offers based on historical purchasing trends either based on the store or the individual participating consumer. The solution also reduces friction within the ordering process by removing the need to wait for an employee to take an order, enabling staff to focus on order throughput.
This technology builds upon Mastercard’s commitment to the QSR environment – last year, Sonic Drive-Inprototyped an AI-powered voice assistant and personalized dynamic menu in partnership with Mastercard. The AI Powered Drive Through technology will begin on-location pilots at White Castle locations in October 2020 and will also be rolling out with other quick service restaurants later in the year.
Mastercard continues to invest in retail innovation solutions to provide value to its merchant partners, expand acceptance, and deliver secure and streamlined payments for cardholders. Leveraging technologies such as computer vision, artificial intelligence, biometrics and tokenization, Mastercard offers retailers best-in-class solutions that combine scale, security, and infrastructure to enhance the shopper experience.
