OfficeMax Taps Deeply into Google Wallet

OfficeMax is placing an early bet on Google Wallet to help deliver a faster, more engaging shopping experience.The office supply retailer has installed "Tap & Go" checkout terminals in roughly 100 stores to enable shoppers to make payments, redeem coupons and access their MaxPerks Rewards loyalty-card accounts with a tap on their smartphones via the mobile application, which launched Sept. 19.Developed through a partnership of Google, MasterCard Worldwide, Citigroup Inc., Sprint Nextel Corp. and First Data Corp., Google Wallet houses virtual versions of a consumer’s payment and rewards credentials (including data on gift cards, loyalty cards and coupons) and utilizes "near field communication" technology to transmit the data instantly.OfficeMax is one of the first retailers (and first office supply chain) to implement Google Wallet's full range of payment and rewards functionality. As an early adopter, the company thus far has limited its deployment of the MasterCard PayPass-powered Tap & Go terminals to stores in the New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington, DC, markets. The Google Wallet service currently is only available on Sprint's Nexus S 4G phone, and only supports payments via PayPass-enabled MasterCard cards issued by Citigroup or the new Google Prepaid Card. (The latter, backed by MasterCard, can be funded with any credit card.)Yet the retailer sees mobile payments as a logical next step for its fairly aggressive mobile marketing strategy. “OfficeMax is interested in using the very latest technology to deliver a faster, easier and personalized in-store shopping experience for our customers, and mobile payments with Google Wallet lets us do just that,” said chief merchandising officer Ryan Vero. “It’s one of many recent mobile programs we’ve rolled out to help provide customers with a truly customized and engaging shopping experience."The retailer launched a mobile-friendly website back in 2009, its first shopping app in 2010 (see “OfficeMax Introduces iPhone App” in Related Articles), and this June introduced a "Mobile Print Center" app that lets smartphone users submit documents and images from their devices and schedule a pick-up at any store.Other Google "SingleTap" merchants (chains that let users pay, redeem offers and earn loyalty credits) are Toy "R" Us, American Eagle Outfitters and Jamba Juice. The longer list of retailers solely accepting payment through the app includes CVS/pharmacy, RadioShack, Foot Locker and The Sports Authority. Walgreens, Macy’s and The Container Store are among the retailers that Google has identified as "coming soon."

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