Google Wallet with offers goes live in Times Square

Shoppers at the flagship Times Square branch of American Eagle Outfitters can now use an NFC phone to make payments, earn reward points and collect or redeem special offers.

American Eagle's Google Wallet billboard
WRIT LARGE: AEO's Google Wallet billboard stands tall over New York's Times Square

American Eagle Outfitters (AEO) has fully implemented Google Wallet at its flagship Times Square store in New York. Further selected American Eagle Outfitters, Aerie and 77kids stores in the Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Washington DC and New York areas are also to be equipped with SingleTap terminals to allow payments, coupon redemption and loyalty points to all be processed with a single tap of an NFC phone.

All purchases made at AEO via Google Wallet will attract an automatic 15% discount as well as being eligible for reward points via the retailer’s AEO AeRewards loyalty program. Special offers can also be downloaded to the mobile wallets and can be collected via in-store smart posters. These are then automatically redeemed at the point-of-sale when customers complete their purchase.

The launch of the service is being supported with a “Tapping Spree” promotion that allows customers try out the service. The promotion runs until the end of October and is being marketed via a large electronic billboard above the store and by providing shoppers with a Sprint Nexus S 4G NFC phone that they can borrow during their visit in order to test out the service.

“Look for surprise offers throughout the store as you fill your shopping cart, and when it’s time to check out, simply enable the offer you like the most and tap the phone on the terminal to pay,” says Google Wallet product marketing manager Artem Chetverykov. “You’ll not only receive the discount from your selected offer, but you’ll also receive an additional US$10 towards your purchase in the form of an American Eagle Outfitters gift card.”

Google “brand ambassadors” and trained American Eagle Outfitters sales associates will be on hand during the tapping spree to guide customers through the process of using Google Wallet on the Nexus S 4G loan phones.

“American Eagle Outfitters customers embrace new technologies wholeheartedly,” says Beth McCormick, senior director of information technology at American Eagle. “We are proud to be among the launch partners of Google Wallet, and look forward to continuously making the American Eagle Outfitters shopping experience even more fun and convenient.”

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