The problem, says Bruce Cundiff, an analyst at Javelin Strategy & Research in Pleasanton, Calif., is “trying to get over that chicken-and-egg proposition” in which merchants are waiting for the users and vice versa. Still, Arby’s is pleased with its early results. Gavin Waugh, the company’s senior director of finance, won’t discuss actual numbers but says that “the general trend is positive.” Arby’s put the technology in because it was a convenient time to do so, not because it expected to see an immediate benefit.

Zimmerman was upgrading the company’s in-store point-of-sale (POS) system and decided to add the capability, which cost about $150 per terminal.

Zimmerman says it’s challenging to find the tools he needs to manage the contactless readers on a large scale. “Like any new technology, it isn’t all there yet,” he says. “The real challenge is to be able to deploy it broadly in a big chain with rock-solid reliability.”

Even so, Wakefern Food deployed the technology in its ShopRite supermarkets late last year. A spokesperson says the chain hasn’t seen any quantifiable benefits, nor does it expect any. “The benefits are really for the consumer in its ease of use and convenience,” she says. Read Full Article