Payment Options

Customers who wish to pay their bills in person can now do so at Kmart through the retailer's new CheckFreePay walk-in bill payment service from Fiserv. The program is available at all Kmart stores nationwide and accepts bill payment from more than 3,000 companies — everything from electric, gas and cable bills to credit card statements and auto loans. Through Kmart's new bill pay program, customers are able to pay thousands of bills for $1.50 or less per transaction with cash or a PIN-based debit card at any Kmart store nationwide.

All businesses should take measures to attract customers, and provide a positive experience to reduce shopping cart abandonment. Here are tips retailers can utilize:

Gucci has launched its own mobile point-of-sale program at select directly operated U.S., Europe and Asia stores. Gucci is leveraging technology to create a unique customer experience and to better serve clients when they're shopping in its stores. The pilot program launched at the Gucci flagship store on Fifth Avenue in New York City with additional trials at the Paramus, N.J. and Orlando, Fla. locations.

When eBay buyers were unable to pay sellers with PayPal one day last week, it was a big deal — PayPal is practically mandatory on the online marketplace. On Saturday, eBay executive Christopher Payne sent an email to sellers informing them that eBay had sent buyers who were affected by the glitch a coupon. Of special interest to sellers was his promise that eBay would automatically remove negative feedback for transactions affected by the glitch.

With most regions in the world already adopting EMV, a global standard for credit and debit payment cards based on chip card technology, the U.S. is a sitting duck when it comes to customer present card fraud. This isn't good news for the country’s retailers and it’s clear that something needs to be done.

In what seems like a generation ago — before the internet — catalog orders came in one of two ways: via the mail or phone. Source code capture rates of 85 percent were the norm and it was easy to read the results from each mailing list. Then along came the internet and measuring catalog response rates became complicated. The percentage of online orders continues to grow, making the attribution of orders very complicated. Consumers receive catalogs, emails, online ads and many more advertisements. Knowing which marketing vehicle should get credit for an order is a challenge.

This fall, customers using Target-branded credit cards will a get 5 percent discount on every purchase at its stores. Gauging by the results of an eight-month test Target recently concluded in Kansas City, the company expects the program to drive a 1 percent to 2 percent nationwide increase in sales at stores open at least a year by luring shoppers to its stores more frequently to take advantage of the savings.

For merchandise sellers not rooted online, alternative payment programs such as PayPal and Bill Me Later once carried the stigma of being designed primarily for consumers with bad debt. But as representatives from two major integrated retailers, American Eagle Outfitters and Orvis, noted during a session at August's eTail Conference in Baltimore, that's no longer the case.

Very little PR I get in my inbox grabs my eye, but this one warrants a little attention. A few weeks ago, I was nudged by a Dublin, Ireland-based data management firm called Ethoca, which has developed something across the pond called the Collaborative Fraud Management platform and hosts The Global Fraud Fighting Community. This is a group of European merchants who pool their transaction information to determine and share with other group members those potential transactions that are legit or fraudulent. Now Ethoca has brought its efforts to the U.S., and one of the first merchants it signed up was multichannel computer equipment

As the number of channels through which catalogers promote their products increases, so, too, does the need for consistency among an organization’s marketing materials. If you want both existing customers and prospects to recognize your brand, the elements that are used in your catalog must appear on your Web site, in your e-mail campaigns and, if applicable, at the retail level. It sounds like common sense, but if your creative processes aren’t streamlined, consistency can be difficult to achieve. “Some companies, like Harry and David, are really good at keeping it all aligned: their Web sites, e-mails and stores,” notes Carol Worthington-Levy, partner