“According to those who track such things, actual Apple Pay usage on a per user basis has fallen, despite a few hundred million Apple devices which can use the system, and adoption by retailers seems to have slowed as well,” Dave Farrington writes for NoodleMac. “What’s going on? Why isn’t Apple Pay being used more by those who have it installed, setup, tried it, and like it?”
“We’re still in the early days of Apple Pay and anyone who expected massive overnight adoption does not understand much about technology, systems, or human beings. It took years for the iPhone and iPod to become hit products,” Farrington writes. “People are creatures of habit so getting us to change our daily procedures and methods remains a challenge not only for Apple, but for retailers.”
“Apple has the wherewithal– financial and customer base- to provide an incentive for customers to use Apple Play more frequently, and definitely needs an incentive to get retailers to adopt Apple Pay to help avoid the problem with ‘chicken and egg’ syndrome,” Farrington writes. “Points? Rebates? Credit for iTunes? Whatever Apple comes up with, whether in concert with credit cards and banks, or retailers, needs to be designed to help me decide to use Apple Pay more frequently. Credit card banks do this all the time with mileage and rebates. They are incentives to use a specific car a specific way. Apple Pay needs the same thing.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Imagine at the special media event to introduce the next-gen iPhone next month, Apple CEO Tim Cook says something like this:
And, of course, the new iPhone works with Apple Pay and, starting today, for every $100 you spend using Apple Pay, you get $1 off at Apple retail and online stores. So, spend $100 on groceries using Apple Pay, you get $1. Spend $300 on a plane ticket using the Delta app, you get $3. Use Apple Pay in your ExxonMobil Speedpass+ app to buy your gas. It all adds up! By the end of the year, you’ll likely have quite a discount on your next iPad, Mac, or iPhone!
Would you use Apple Pay more if Tim Cook said something like that? We know we certainly would.
As we wrote nearly one year ago to the day:
Apple, give us a reason to use Apple Pay beyond looking like tech dorks in front of the line at the register. What’s the incentive to use Apple Pay? There is none besides looking like a flaming nerd. As if Apple doesn’t have any money. That, inexplicably, is how they approach Apple Pay. Hello, Tim? Eddy? Talk to some people who actually go to stores and shop for things, please.
Incentivize its use! Give Apple Pay users a percentage of every dollar spent via Apple Pay to spend at Apple Stores. Something. Anything! Get people used to using it first. Sheesh. It’s really not that difficult. It really isn’t.
And, BTW: That was written before Apple Watch made the process so seamless that nobody in line (or the cashier, half the time) even notices how or that we paid, but we still think Apple should take some of tiny portion of their cash mountain and put it to good use incentivizing (and training) their customers to use Apple Pay.
SEE ALSO:
Apple Pay’s frequency of usage is putrid – August 3, 2016
Apple Pay and wannabes must offer perks to grow – December 14, 2015
Starbucks, KFC, and Chili’s to accept Apple Pay this year – October 8, 2015
Barclays to bring Apple Pay to the UK in early 2016 – October 7, 2015
Some Best Buy stores are now accepting Apple Pay – September 18, 2015
MCX CEO gone a day after Apple Pay lands Best Buy – April 28, 2015
Best Buy capitulates, to accept Apple Pay despite CurrentC allegiance – April 27, 2015
Major retailers see Apple Pay wave – November 17, 2014
In only 3 weeks, Apple Pay is changing how consumers pay – November 17, 2014
Boycott CVS and Rite Aid – October 27, 2014
Bad business: CVS and Rite Aid antagonize their most well-heeled customers by blocking Apple Pay – October 27, 2014
CVS stores reportedly disabling NFC to shut down Apple Pay – October 25, 2014
iPhone users earn significantly more than those who settle for Android phones – October 8, 2014
Yet more proof that Android is for poor people – June 27, 2014
More proof that Android is for poor people – May 13, 2014
Apple’s iOS dominates in richer countries, Android in poorer regions – March 25, 2014
Twitter heat map shows iPhone use by the affluent, Android by the poor – June 20, 2013