With up to 45 percent of its orders to-go, Panera is planning the chain-wide roll-out of a mobile ordering system designed to help take-out customers quickly get in and out of the restaurant with their food. Panera is looking to position itself to better meet customers' changing needs, recognizig that chains such as Papa John's are reporting close to 50 percent of orders coming in through digital channels. The mobile ordering program is based on a key customer insight that the business is made up of two distinct segments - those who eat in the restaurants and those who order …

Sweden-based Accumulate AB today introduced what it calls a unique suite of products and services for mobile payment and proximity marketing aimed at bringing the online shopping experience to the physical store. Close Payment with Close Beacon is a BLE/iBeacon-based product for mobile payment and proximity marketing. It works on all major smartphones running iOS and Android, the company said in a statement. Close Payment supports any existing payment scheme such as credit, debit direct account or wallet-based solution to create a digital wallet, according to the statement. After registering, the user can pay for an item by simply being …

Vodafone launched its M-Pesa mobile payment system in Romania on Monday, marking the first time the successful service has been available in Europe. The operator is focusing on money transfer and payment services with the Romanian version of M-Pesa, which to date has racked up 17 million customers in African markets including Kenya, South Africa, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. M-Pesa uses SMS to transfer money and make payments for goods and services. While the African service has targeted the region's largely unbanked population--people with no bank accounts--the Romanian version will also enable people with accounts to make mobile …

Have you heard? 2014 is the year mobile payments is going to take off. Gartner thinks so, ABI predicts a strong year, and even Bain & Co. thinks the mobile-payments explosion is just over the horizon. Unfortunately, it seems consumers haven't yet gotten the memo. Mobile use is growing, particularly among eCommerce-savvy Millennials, according to a new report released by the U.S. Federal Reserve. Certain already-powerful players - PayPal and Starbucks for example - are steadily recruiting users. But it isn't exactly a craze sweeping the nation. According to the Fed, about half of all mobile phone users surveyed weren't …

McDonald's burgeoning mobile payments strategy continues its international expansion by pairing the McDelivery service in Thailand with a mobile-enabled point-of-sale service. The service enables customers who order delivery service to pay by credit card using a mobile device. With the new method of payment, McThai Co., which operates McDonald's in Thailand, expects to see cashless payments grow by 10 to 20 percent and for the McDelivery program to increase by 30 percent. "QSRs are embracing mobile apps to provide consumers with faster and more convenient ordering options," said Bill Aurnhammer, founder/CEO of Aurnhammer, New York. "Yet McDonald's is definitely a …

Mobile solutions service LiveLux is providing luxury brands with a much-needed tool to link the in-store experience with mobile and ecommerce. LiveLux is a business-to-business tool that vies to close the gap between premium in-store service and affluent consumers who enjoy the ease of personalized shopping but may be too busy to visit a bricks-and-mortar boutique in person. Designed with the on-the-go consumer in mind, LiveLux aims to enhance the consumer sales associate relationship by providing personalized shopping experiences remotely. "Today's luxury shopper uses both smartphones, 65 percent, and tablets, 40 percent, with over 50 percent buying for convenience," said …