Blog Post

Retailers wanting to improve their customers’ shopping journeys can now look to social media and mobile platforms such as shopping app, Sniip, which are playing bigger roles in people’s shopping experiences.

The new shopping app from Sniip is one way retailers are bridging the gap between offline and digital channels.

With increased consumer confidence and a low Australian dollar, Australian retailers are well positioned to take advantage of online retail opportunities.

According to the Deloitte Retailers’ Christmas Survey, close to 50% of retailers expect their online sales to make up 6% or more of their total sales this Christmas.

But retailers with traditional webpages are finding shopping cart abandonment one of the biggest barriers to online sales. In fact, the average global online shopping cart abandonment rate is 70% (BI Intelligence, July 2015).

The costs to online retailers, already operating under tight margins, are significant – believed to be in the way of $4 trillion in lost revenue.

Why do customers who research items, add them to a shopping cart, and then navigate away at the last possible second?

Sniip CEO, Damien Vasta believes poor user experience is the main problem.

“We are all increasingly time-poor. So when customers have to spend even a few minutes entering their credit card details and delivery address at the end of the transaction, they get fed up.”

“Sniip helps retailers avoid incomplete online transactions, because once customers have the app, online payments take seconds rather than minutes,” he said.

Designed to be a hub of online retail stores, Sniip is the simple and quick way for customers to pay via their mobile devise.

Acting like a mobile wallet, Sniip turns a smartphone into a rapid payment portal, allowing customers to store multiple credit cards and billing addresses securely. Once you download the free app and set up your account with a secure 4-digit pin, you never have to re-enter your payment card data to make a purchase.

The first app of its kind in Australia, Sniip allows retailers to extend their digital sales platforms beyond their own websites.

Sniip also uses a unique, trademarked circular QR code which allows customers to scan and buy a specific product on any printed material. This means, retailers can extend the value of traditional, physical advertising channels like catalogues, print ads and outdoor assets to transform passive browsing into point-of-sale.

The Sniip app is available to download for free from the Apple App Store and Google Play.

Australians may be known as early adopters of new technology but many are reluctant to use mobile payment solutions due to a ‘fear factor’ – something Sniip is tackling head-on.

Sniip CEO Damien Vasta says perceived security and privacy fears have been a significant obstacle to widespread adoption of mobile payments in Australia.

Deloitte Australia’s Mobile Consumer Survey 2015 found that while Australian mobile consumers are actively participating in the growing mCommerce marketplace, it appears they are disinclined to use their smartphones in the same way they currently use their bank or credit cards.

Nearly half of the respondents cited ‘the perceived lack of security’ as the reason for not using their smartphone for payments. The same report states that this perception reflects misconceptions rather than reality as mobile payments are considered more secure than card based systems.

According to Sniip CEO, Damien Vasta, consumers fear the unknown in relation to fraud, privacy loss and identity theft. There are also general trust issues when it comes to mobile devices and credit cards.

“While the mobile payment solutions currently out there in the market attempt to allay these fears and reduce fraud, consumers still don’t seem fully convinced.

“This is why Sniip has tackled security head-on, with unique and secure technology. But we’ve also made it incredibly easy to understand,” he said.

Sniip securely stores information that is required to complete an order, with the added protection of a 4-digit security PIN.

Sniip doesn’t store credit card information on any database or cloud-based server. The user’s credit card data is encrypted and securely stored on their mobile device.

“Using Sniip is more secure than carrying a physical wallet. It requires a 4-digit PIN to be entered for any transaction, similar to the security measures of banking apps,” Mr Vasta said.

“No one can view card details or make a purchase without this PIN. The payment card data is stored securely on the device. And if a user misplaces their phone, their account can be easily disabled remotely,” he said.

Sniip has achieved full PCI DSS compliance. The highest level of safety certification in the payment card data security industry – including prevention, detection and appropriate reaction to security incidents.

Sniip also differs from other mobile payment solutions as the first app in Australia not restricted to any one banking or credit card brand.

Consumers simply scan any Sniip code displayed on a bill, magazines, catalogues, newspaper ads or inside a store and can pay instantly using their secure Sniip mobile wallet.

Sniip brings together a variety of retail shopping brands and service providers under one easy to use app. You can shop across the entire Sniip community of retailers, pay your bills and even pay your parking.

Registration only takes a minute and you’ll never have to re-enter credit card and shipping details again.

More than 90 retailers have already signed up with Sniip, and in the public sector Toowoomba Regional Council is trialling the new mobile payment technology with its ratepayers.

As a free app to download and low cost solution for businesses and organisations, Sniip is fast, simple and secure.

Second screening is now ‘second nature’ as 71% of Australians multiscreen while watching TV every day according to a study by IAB Australia on The Changing TV Experience: Attitudes and Usage across Multiple screens.

This presents a huge opportunity for retailers to take advantage of consumers’ increasing use and dependence on their smartphones to remain connected.

Consumers are adopting smart devices at an astounding pace, with the number of mobile devises now surpassing the global population – it’s changing the way we socialise, learn, consume entertainment and shop.

Millennials (the group born between 1980s and mid-2000s) prefer their mobile as the number one way to interact, with smartphone penetration also increasing in the over 45 group.

According to Sniip CEO Damien Vasta, mobile-enabled commerce is a trend that’s here to stay.

“People want the convenience of being able to purchase a product quickly on their phone while on the couch watching TV.

“Retailers are also now also starting to recognise the power of barcode scanning in the context of smartphones, with endless opportunities to extend the lifecycle of print marketing material,” he said.

A world first in retail payment technology, Sniip uses a unique, trademarked circular QR code which allows customers to scan and buy a specific product on any printed material.

Sniip also acts as a mobile wallet, storing details for multiple credit cards and billing addresses securely. Customers can access their account using a 4-digit pin, with multiple credit cards linked to their account, taking the friction and complication out of online payments.

Sniip simplifies the payment process and is attractive to retailers because of the speed at which customers can browse and buy via their mobile device.

More than 90 retailers have already signed up with Sniip, allowing them to extend their digital sales platforms beyond their own website and extend the value of traditional, physical advertising channels like catalogues, print ads and outdoor assets to transform passive browsing into point-of-sale.

The Sniip app is available to download for free from the Apple App Store and Google Play.