Cell Phones and a Cashless Society

Carl's Jr. Hamburger Franchise Rolls Out RFID Rewards Program with Tags Affixed to Customers' Mobile Phones

May 27, 2010

RFID Journal - Hamburger chain Carl's Jr. is launching an RFID-based mobile loyalty program at restaurants in Oklahoma and Texas that leverage the Mobiquitous platform from application service provider Tetherball. The tags, supplied by ViVOtech, are provided to customers as part of a Carl's Jr. loyalty program, and customers affix them to their mobile phones. Each tag uniquely identifies a customer via Tetherball's software.

Carl's Jr. is able to send offers to its patrons via standard text messaging, and the offers can be redeemed electronically when the phone's Tetherball RFID tag is read by existing in-store contactless point-of-sale (POS) terminals, provided by ViVOtech.

The Carl's Jr. Mobile Rewards program is up and running at 37 Oklahoma locations and two northern Texas locations, Tetherball reports, and has seen redemption rates as high as 39 percent. Customers opting into the program receive, on average, one text coupon offer per week. Carl's Jr. can also track the program's success, Tetherball adds, since each coupon offer has a special promotional code enabling stores to track redemptions via their POS systems.

"This new medium allows us to reach a broad range of customers well beyond our loyal base of core 'young hungry-guy' customers," said Troy Beats, VP of marketing and operations for Star Chasers Oklahoma Inc., a franchisee of 39 Carl's Jr. locations, in a prepared statement. "Most people today, young and old, are using their mobile phones for just about everything, especially when they are out and about and thinking of where to eat."

Other companies using Tetherball's Mobiquitous platform include Dairy Queen (see Dairy Queen Serves Up Personal Discounts With RFID).

German Hardware Provider Introduces Mobile Bluetooth RFID Reader

May 27, 2010

RFID Journal - IDTronic, an RFID hardware provider based in Germany, has introduced a new mobile ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) RFID interrogator with Bluetooth connectivity. The Mobile Bluetooth Reader I-Poll UHF operates in the 860 to 960 MHz range and supports the ISO 18000-6C and EPC Gen 2 standards. The interrogator has an integrated antenna reading distance of up to 1.5 meters (4.9 feet). I-Poll also has an integrated USB and Bluetooth interface for connecting to PCs or PDAs. According to IDTronic, the interrogator features anti-collision capabilities so it can read dozens of tags simultaneously, making it well-suited for warehouse and supermarket applications. I-Poll's user interface consists of two scan buttons, one buzzer and two colored LEDs.