Retailers are looking for ways to enhance the shopping experience and attract more of the approximately 3 million Chinese tourists who visit the U.S. each year. To help retailers around the world support these traveling consumers who spent a total of $33 billion in 2016 just in the U.S., Verifone (NYSE: PAY) and Alipay announced today that they have expanded their global partnership to enable select Lacoste U.S. stores to accept Alipay.
As Alipay’s exclusive partner for Lacoste, the French, sport-inspired lifestyle brand, Verifone facilitates Alipay’s QR code payments on the Verifone e355 mobile point-of-sale (mPOS) solution. Designed to accept alternative payments like Alipay and other digital payment methods, Verifone offers a rich and interactive mobile pay solution that gives retail personnel the freedom to help and check out customers from anywhere in the store.
“We take pride in appealing to international customers and continue to use innovative technology to improve the customer experience in our boutiques,” said Joëlle Grünberg, President and CEO of LACOSTE North and Central America. “With Verifone, we now offer Chinese customers the comfort of being able to use a familiar payment method in our U.S. stores.”
“Chinese travelers love brands like Lacoste and we are thrilled to partner with Verifone to simplify their checkout experience at select Lacoste stores nationwide,” said Souheil Badran, President, Alipay Americas. “Through Alipay, Lacoste stores will reduce payment and language barriers these travelers encounter at the register and ensure they have the most positive in-store experience during their visit.”
“Verifone is committed to helping retailers accommodate international shoppers with secure and familiar checkout experiences,” said Richard Char, SVP, Global Business and Corporate Development, Verifone. “Lacoste is a premium brand popular with Chinese shoppers and we aim to further bolster Lacoste’s global appeal, reputation, and growth by enabling acceptance of alternative payments like Alipay.”
Verifone and Alipay began partnering in 2016 to enable merchants in Europe and North America with Alipay acceptance in stores, driving brand visibility, traffic and sales through its in-app marketing tool. With Verifone’s mobile point-of-sale, retailers can accept Alipay in stores and implement marketing campaigns targeting Chinese consumers who use the Alipay app.
For more information on how Verifone enables alternative payment acceptance, please visit booth #3345 at NRF in New York City, where visiting Chinese travelers can use Alipay in 14,000 taxis.
For LACOSTE, Life is a Beautiful Sport! Since the very first polo was created in 1933, LACOSTE relies on its authentic sportive roots to spring optimism and elegance on the world thanks to a unique and original lifestyle for women, men and children. With a vision to be the leading player in the premium casual wear market, the Crocodile brand is today present in 120 countries through a selective distribution network. Two LACOSTE items are sold every second in the world. As an international group gathering 10,000 women and men, LACOSTE offers a complete range of products: apparel, leather goods, fragrances, footwear, eyewear, home wear, watches and underwear, all of them being elaborated in the most qualitative, responsible and ethical way. In 2016, the brand garnered a turnover of more than 2 billion euros. For more information: www.lacoste.com
Operated by Ant Financial Services Group, Alipay is the world’s largest mobile and online payment platform. Launched in 2004, Alipay currently has over 520 million active Chinese users and over 200 financial institution partners in China. Alipay has evolved from a digital wallet to a lifestyle enabler. Users can hail a taxi, book a hotel, buy movie tickets, pay utility bills, make appointments with doctors, or purchase wealth management products directly from within the app. In addition to online payments, Alipay is expanding to in-store offline payments both inside and outside of China. Over 10 million brick-and-mortar merchants now accept Alipay across China. Alipay’s in-store payment service covers more than 37 countries and regions across the world, and tax reimbursement via Alipay is supported in 24 countries and regions. Alipay works with over 250 overseas financial institutions and payment solution providers to enable cross-border payments for Chinese travelling overseas and overseas customers who purchase products from Chinese e-commerce sites. Alipay currently supports 27 currencies. Follow us on Twitter @antfinancial and @alipay
Verifone is transforming every day transactions into new and engaging opportunities for merchants and consumers at the last inch of payments and commerce. Powered by a growing footprint of more than 30 million devices in more than 150 countries, our people are trusted experts working with the world’s best-known retail brands, financial institutions, and payment providers. Verifone is connecting more products to an integrated solutions platform to better meet the evolving needs of our clients and partners. Built on a 35-year history of uncompromised security, we are committed to consistently solving the most complex payment challenges. Verifone.com | (NYSE: PAY) | @verifone
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