Tablet device Albert launched for mobile in-store purchases

Chris Griffith
MARCH 31, 2015
THE AUSTRALIAN
Queuing up to make a department store purchase might become a thing of the past with the Commonwealth Bank today announcing a tailed tablet device that lets staff roam around and take EFTPOS payments anywhere in a store.
Known as “Albert”, the new tablet also provides business insights as it collects data, the bank said in a statement today.
CommBank named a list of businesses that it has been working with on the Albert project. They include David Jones and Amalgamated Holdings Limited, with brands such as Event Cinemas, QT Hotels and Resorts, and Rydges Hotels and Resorts. There’s Keystone Group, Foot Locker, Mogas Regional and EasyFuel.
The CBA said these businesses were building customised apps for Albert, which would operate on the open-source platform, Pi Business Network.
The payments landscape is quickly becoming crowded with a range of digital payment options, including using smartphones and even smart watches. Devices such as Albert will let those payments take place where customers congregate, which could be away from counters.
Gary Roach, the bank’s managing director payments & cash management services, said Albert would revolutionise the point of sale experience.
“Albert has the potential to dramatically shift the way businesses take payments, offering merchants the ability to completely customise the customer experience from start to finish,” he said.
Earthling Investments technical director Dwayne Bonner said Albert would be “a complete technological game-changer” for two of its businesses, Mogas Regional and EasyFuel.
The bank said the loss of sales due to long queues at retail outlets cost Australian business more than a billion dollars annually. According to its research, 73 per cent of Australians had abandoned a purchase in a retail store because of the length of the queue.
A majority of people, 55 per cent, left a store if they have to wait more than five minutes, the bank said.
Based on the average price of an abandoned sale of $94, Australian retailers were potentially losing out on sales worth $1.2 billion a year, the bank said.
Key features of Albert include the option to email receipts and invoices, split the bill up to 10 ways, open a customer account that can be paid later, record and track daily, weekly and yearly payments, and compile business analytics and insights.
The bank said Albert could help businesses recognise their most loyal patrons, let customers split the bill with ease, and put an end to lengthy queues at the counter by enabling staff to accept payments at the table, on the shop floor, or even offsite at an event or function.