*
Maria Kryszak
馬怡欣
* Powatag is a shopping application of a new
generation.
* It allows shoppers to buy products by pointing their
phone at adverts.
* Camera captures a barcode-type logo which links to
the advertiser's store.
* App can also listen to radio and TV adverts and link
to relevant stores.
* Powatag can be used on a range of products from
groceries to clothes.
*
* It has not been released yet, the British firm
has already signed up 240 global brands from
Adidas and Reebok, to Universal Music and the
world’s second largest supermarket group,
Carrefour.
* The company raised £60million (100million
US$) to develop and launch the service after
showcasing the technology to investors in the
USA. It was the single biggest investment in
any start-up tech company in 2013.
*
* Dan Wagner- POWA founder and CEO,
a multi-millionaire on the back of past
investments in a series of tech firms.
*
* The smartphone’s camera captures a barcode-type
logo, called the PowaTag, which automatically links
to the advertiser’s store and allows an instant
purchase.
* Powatag can also listen to radio and TV adverts and
link to relevant stores using audio clues.
* It makes its money by taking a small fee, typically
0.25 GBP (0.42 USD) or 0.1% of the price paid for
the item, whichever is the greater.
*
* PowaTag has signed up 35 large charities who
will be able to use the services free of charge.
People will be able to donate to TV and radio
appeals instantly without paying handling fees.
* Shoppers can add multiple payment options to
the app and use it to create a virtual shopping
list.
*
* In Great Britain shoppers have shown enormous
enthusiasm for hi-tech shopping.
* Spending on web shopping in this country is already
the highest in the world at an annual average of
£1,175 (2,000$) per head.
* Dan Wagner said companies currently lose sales
because consumers are simply unable to make a
purchase when they see an ad.
* PowaTag technology turns this impulse to buy into a
sale.
*
Wagner said:
* “It's not normal for a British company to say
that we'll be the best at something, not in
technology. But we have built the first British
true internet sensation. This is Britain’s first
potential Google or Facebook.”
* “We're going to beat the Americans at this.
We're going to beat everyone at this.”
*
*
* http://www.powatag.com/
* http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/artic
le-2572985/Point-shoot-SHOPPING-Smartphonecamera-let-buy-products-snapping-windowdisplays-magazine-adverts.html
* http://www.forbes.com/sites/karstenstrauss/2
013/09/13/the-secret-technology-thatattracted-76-million-and-could-eat-amazonslunch/
*