• New York Times, Monday, October 1, 2007 12:45 PM

Like the music being played at your local Starbucks? Well, starting tomorrow, you can instantly download any song you hear through iTunes, which has become free to access from Starbucks locations in New York and Seattle. The New York Times says the Apple-Starbucks partnership, announced several weeks ago, is part of a larger technological trend aimed at baiting the impulse buyer.

The online impulse buy is brought to you by debit, gift and refill cards--which allow for one-click, cashless shopping. Part of the genius of iTunes is that it, too, allows for quick, one-click shopping--but many believe the Starbucks-Apple partnership paves the way for a new future of discovery impulse buying.

In fact, credit card companies like Visa are experimenting with ways to turn the cell phone into a kind of credit card, allowing you to wave your phone in front of a sensor to pay for items under $25. Imagine a world with no buying lines and no cashiers. Simply take what you want and your phone sensor will charge you accordingly. As James Katz, director of the Center for Mobile Communications Studies at Rutgers University, says, such innovation would drive impulse purchases, because "the more people think about a purchase decision, the more likely uncertainty creeps in...They're preying on our materialistic souls."

Read the whole story at New York Times »