(Note: This story appears in the January 2021 issue of ED Magazine)
Blending the latest mobile, sensor and display technologies, Sophatar is expanding your kiosk game with ProxiPay-Go, helping your club to stay profitable amid pandemic protocols.
While traditionally kiosks have been custom projects, ProxiPay-Go is a software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution that enables building a kiosk from off-the-shelf components: it only requires a display, a media player, and a pay terminal. As all user interaction is from the customer’s own mobile, any regular display (TV or monitor) can be used; no touchscreen is needed, saving costs and alleviating safety concerns in a pandemic world.
ProxiPay-Go consists of:
- Software on compatible media players to automatically generate digital signage for available products or services, and to control via a LAN connection one or more payment terminals. The system is PCI compliant with all transactions tokenized and uses a pay terminal that is qualified for unattended operation.
- An auto-generated companion mobile-responsive commerce website that replicates all available products shown on the kiosk display. Scanning an on-screen animated QR code opens the site on the customer’s phone to place an order. It works in the browser so no mobile app is needed. The customer does not need to connect to a local WiFi network.
- A connection from the signage player to one or more pay terminals for customers to finalize payment via a quick contactless EMV transaction, avoiding the typical higher card-not-present fees for mobile transactions.
- A web console for the store operator to create a catalog of featured products or services, that will show on both the kiosk and the companion website, and manage incoming orders.
With ProxiPay-Go you can mount kiosk displays anywhere as there is no physical touch required. As multiple customers can shop simultaneously, wait lines and crowding are avoided, and kiosk ROI is increased.
“While we introduced the ProxiPay concept in early March, just before COVID hit, it still required a customer to interact with a terminal to select products,” says Bart DeCanne, Sophatar’s founder and CEO. “Now ProxiPay-Go makes it completely touchless by introducing the mobile interactivity. We estimate ProxiPay-Go lowers the implementation cost of a self-service kiosk by five times or more compared to traditional solutions with a large touchscreen and custom fixtures. Just hang a display off the wall, place a pay terminal on a pedestal nearby, subscribe to our service, and start taking orders. No change to your existing POS is required, as we interact directly with the payment processor to put funds from ProxiPay-Go sales into your merchant account.”
As all user interaction is from the customer’s own mobile, any regular display (TV or monitor) can be used; no touchscreen is needed, saving costs and alleviating safety concerns in a pandemic world.
ProxiPay-Go is available now for BrightSign media players and Payter pay terminals. Besides the default email receipts, sales receipts can also be optionally printed on a Star-Micronics receipt printer.
ProxiPay-Go is the latest addition to Sophatar’s Proxi.VIP platform for increased customer engagement in physical venues that also includes ProxiScreen for proximity-based interactive digital signage, ProxiPass for mobile coupons, ProxiHost for mobile virtual concierge, and an add-on service called SuperReceipt that scans and processes printed sales receipts.
“Sophatar blends the latest mobile, sensor and display technologies in a smart and cost-effective way,” says DeCanne. “‘Sophatar’ stands for a sophisticated avatar that analyzes sales and presence data, one that interacts with your phone when you’re not at any participating business location and with large-signage screens when you’re on-premise for a more engaging experience. Sophatar creates a better way for physical businesses to increase customer engagement as e-commerce competition becomes more ferocious.”
For more information, visit sophatar.com, call (669) 544-2865, or email info@sophatar.com.
