Kohl’s Pay For Loyal Kohlites

Kohl’s is wisely preparing for the holiday shopping season by catering to the mobile customer. The retailer has announced its own mobile payment system that will detract from its competitors, such as Apple Pay, Android Pay and Samsung Pay.

Kohl’s Pay is a mobile app available on both iOS and Android throughout the U.S. It was initially announced as an extension of its existing mobile wallet. The app integrates a loyalty and rewards program and allows users to check out in-store. The new app can save Kohl’s gift cards in a mobile wallet, scan items, receive sale alerts and have items shipped at no cost. However, the app may be less appealing than similar payment solutions, such as those offered by Walmart and CVS, because users must load their Kohl’s Charge card into the wallet; other payment cards are excluded.

There are over 25 million active Kohl’s Charge cardholders across the U.S., all of whom are active and loyal. Sixty percent of in-store sales are paid for using store cards, according to Kohl’s. What might appeal to shoppers is that rewards accumulated in the wallet can be redeemed in one checkout transaction, and returns and exchanges will not require a paper receipt because all transactions are recorded.

Unlike Apple Pay or Android Pay, Kohl’s Pay does not use NFC (tap-to-pay) technology. Customers must launch the app and scan a QR code that appears on their device at the point of sale, where it is scanned once to pay and any rewards or savings are applied. The consumer then taps to approve and complete the payment.

So far, 14 million downloads have been recorded. Kohl’s adopted Apply Pay in its early days and was the first retailer to add its rewards program and branded Charge card to Apple’s platform. But with Kohl’s Pay, Kohl’s can access more consumer data from its own platform.