Original Article via Direct Marketing News

Say I’m at little kid’s birthday party and see a toy befitting my cousin, the hypothetical one whose present I’ve yet to purchase for his hypothetical birthday next week. I scan the product’s barcode via eBay-owned mobile app RedLaser, which then checks whether the product is in stock at a local toy store via eBay-owned Milo’s ability to access offline inventory.

Through the PayPal mobile app, I can put the product on hold or go ahead and purchase it for in-store pickup. Because the PayPal mobile wallet can include multiple debit and credit cards, gift cards, loyalty cards and even frequent flier miles, I can split my purchase across multiple payment sources and even call a mulligan by changing sources after I completed the transaction.

But the juicy part of the PayPal mobile wallet is the near-store and in-store capabilities. First let’s say the toy store I’m visiting to pick up the product is located in an outdoor shopping center and that I’ll pass a rival toy store on the way from the parking lot. If I’m opted in to PayPal’s mobile deals service, I can receive a geotargeted deal from the rival toy store, possibly even for the product I’d already purchased since the deals can be served according to my PayPal purchase history.

But maybe I’m very committed to the first toy store. So I go in there and head to the aisle featuring the chosen toy that I didn’t purchase or put on hold because I was feeling particular about choosing the perfect version of a mass-produced item. Now the toy retailer has me (more or less), but the toy manufacturer isn’t yet clear of the woods. Just as a rival toy store was able to target a deal to me based on my mobile device’s location, a rival toy manufacturer can harness eBay-owned location-based service Where’s ability to target me to within 7 feet of my actual location. Assuming that the toy manufacturer has partnered with PayPal for mobile deals and that the toy store has uploaded their store map to Where, the rival manufacturer can send me a deal for their product when I step into the aisle to grab the original product.

But I’m hard set on the original toy. Good thing too, because a toy store sales associate has already seen I’m in their store via the automatic check-in I’ve enabled on the PayPal app. Since the check-in can include information about me such as my name and photo, that associate can even approach me by name. They might even have viewed products I’ve put on my wishlist and are able to tell me about a relevant promotion that will go live the following week.

With the hard-sell completed and the product in hand, my participation is over, but the toy store can add the transaction to the opted-in profile they have on me through PayPal and use it to inform future marketing.