Pay By Touch to Market Biometric Loyalty/Payment System

SAN FRANCISCO -- Pay By Touch here today announced the general availability of its SmartShop system, which combines a payment and loyalty system, both based on biometric identification. The SmartShop system was piloted over the past year at Green Hills, a one-store independent based in Syracuse, N.Y. It will be demonstrated next week at the National Retail Federation show in New York. After registering for the program, shoppers can scan their finger at a kiosk at the store entrance to get a printout of 12 to 16 customized offers based on their purchase history. Shoppers scan their finger again at checkout to automatically redeem their offers, as well as to pay for purchases. “The SmartShop service has been extremely popular, and shopper participation is already impacting 50% of store revenue,” said Gary Hawkins, chief executive officer, Hawkins Strategic and owner of Green Hills, in a statement. “We have seen offer redemption rates exceeding 20%, and SmartShop is driving a significant increase in revenue.”