The renowned experience in its new location at Rockefeller Plaza was conceptualized by FAO Schwarz to be fully interactive, rooted in both nostalgia and forward-thinking applications. The new store embraces modern mobile technology from Apple and Teamwork Retail to create an interactive experience for customers, and to empower and enable associates.

For all these reasons, FAO Schwarz chose Apple as the best fit for its business. Throughout the store, guests and Team members interact with iPad and iPhone to power experiences like the RC Raceway, where guests design their own race car using iPad and build it with mechanics onsite. In the Baby Doll Adoption experience, nurses and doctors interview potential new parents using an iPad on a clipboard. To speed guests through checkout, team members are on hand throughout the store with iPhone and iPad, allowing customers to pay instantly and securely with Apple Pay. Apple TV 4K displays product videos throughout the store, and there is a Mac mini behind the scenes serving media content server and as security access control.

FAO Schwarz offers customers mobile checkout and powers its other store operations on iOS cloud commerce provider, Teamwork Retail. Teamwork’s mission for over a decade has been to remove the friction from retail, and we recognized the need to help retailers constantly evolve. In response, Teamwork built an agile platform exclusively on iOS — because Apple makes the best products and ground-breaking features, providing immense value in the retail enterprise.

Michael Mauerer, CEO of Teamwork Retail said “Apple provides the quintessential mobile platform for Teamwork to achieve its mission of frictionless commerce. We are extremely excited and proud to be an Apple mobility partner, and most of all to help our customers, like FAO Schwarz, achieve retail perfection.”

The most engaging and successful retailers today stay close with their customer, strive to remain engaging and interesting, and to keep the shopper feeling valued and coming back. This is where Teamwork Retail comes in. With our solution, retailers are able to accomplish seamless, engaging commerce that is ready to evolve with changing trends.

The key to successful brick and mortar stores today is delighting customers and staying current with the technology landscape. A store is the perfect place to focus completely on and entertain the customer so they can enjoy themselves. It’s a place for a brand to make an impression that keeps customers coming back and wanting more.

FAO Schwarz has made this a priority and its triumphant return, with their magnificent customer experience, is a showcase for the evolution of retail.

For more information about FAO Schwarz and Teamwork Retail, please contact Amber Hovious at ahovious@teamworkretail.com

Increased Security

The chip on a contactless card communicates with the POS device through short-range wireless technology by virtue of an embedded antenna. Upon tapping a contactless card, a cryptographic code is created unique to this transaction. Ensuring that merchants can track payments and minimize the risk of fraudulent transactions.

But, this comes with additional hardware requirements at the point of sale. Many card processing tools do not process both EMV and NFC so retailers have to ensure that the selected terminal technology is suitable for brand relevant customer requirements. If a lot of customers pay from mobile apps, NFC could be more relevant.

EMV has been so effective in reducing fraud that even credit card companies who typically bear the higher costs of producing contactless cards, aren’t hesitant to support the technology given the reduction in fraud risk.

Speed

What can be faster than a simple tap on a card processing device. On the customer side, the contactless experience is seamless: Customers can simply place their card on the payment tool and in seconds the transaction is complete. But, for retailers this process can be more complex, with additional security driving increased processing times. Leveraging hardware that is designed to handle the complexities of contactless payments is critical, 17 seconds is very different from 70 seconds.

Customers need speedy transaction times, this has only become increasingly relevant in the last 6 months, as retailers across the globe have scrambled to take payments at the curbside, or find contactless solutions to reduce the high touch requirements of traditional tools. For retailers, contactless payments reduce a key pain point in the shopping process. Rather than waiting for a customer to enter a pin, or swipe their card, retailers can have their customers quickly tap a card to complete the purchase.

While this is only available on lower priced purchases this flexibility at the point of payment helps to quickly filter through customers that prioritize the convenience of brick-and-mortar. Experience focused customers are also supported in this process, retail staff are able to focus more on these customers, providing them attention and support as needed.

Comfort & Convenience

Much of the merchant payment processing experience for customers is all about speed, how quickly and easily they can pay and get out. Customers do not want to wait in line, and they also do not want to wait to pay. Retailers and credit card processors have spent years refining their point of sale experience, ensuring that customers feel comfortable and can easily purchase their products. Simply tapping one’s card on the payment tool and then leaving the retail environment is about as simple as the process can be.

Customer experience has also shifted in 2020, consumers now demand comfort in a different format. Customers want to feel safe in the retail environment, accessing all the precautions needed to ensure their safety and continued health. Even the World Health organization has stepped out in favor of contactless payment tools. Many central banks have resorted to quarantining physical bills, or burning banknotes to reduce the risk of passively spreading the virus.

29% of consumers are “extremely” or “very worried” about catching Coronavirus from physical money and so are primarily using card payments. Consumers are also concerned about catching the virus from a card payment, through a retail staff member physically touching the card. This is reflected in the data too, 30% of consumers have started using contactless payment methods since the outbreak started. It is highly likely that this shift will be permanent, customers now understand the value of contactless payments as well as the reduction in health risks as a result.

Teamwork Commerce + Global Payments Integrated

Global Payments Integrated is part of the Teamwork Commerce integration ecosystem, enabling retailers to create an optimal customer experience all the way through to the payment process. With a range of payment tools for retailers of all types Global Payments Integrated is the ideal hardware provider for physical retail transactions. With Genius, retailers can accept a myriad of payments, speed up checkout and boost customer engagement at the point of sale. From gateway to acquiring, Global Payments Integrated is a key partner in the Teamwork Commerce retail ecosystem.