E-Money in Japan: A Quick Video Overview

Written by: Michael Keferl on June 19, 2009 at 2:50 am | In DIGITAL LIFE | 2 Comments

Japan is well known for its well-developed e-money infrastructure. With RFID integration in mobile phones, train passes, and even loyalty cards for shops, it’s possible to do a great deal of your shopping and transportation without carrying cash or using a credit card either.

E-money was also introduced slowly and deliberately onto the Japanese market, which has resulted in an ecosystem that is not only accepted by the public, but expanding rapidly. Using a contactless e-money card or enabled phone it’s possible to do everything from buy drinks in vending machines to paying for airline tickets and even checking into hotel rooms!

Via Steven Nagata, this pay toilet in Akihabara can use e-money cards to pay for access. Not only does this eliminate any theft issues, but it’s also great for germaphobes!

Coin lockers also get the e-money treatment. Your card pays for the locker, but it also acts as the key when you get back!

For those interested in e-money and the transportation system of Tokyo in general, YouTuber, comedian, and samurai-in-training Kevin Cooney gives an overview below.

Tags: e-money, RFID
Category: DIGITAL LIFE
Other categories: MARKETING IDEAS, LIFESTYLE / FASHION, PRODUCT INNOVATIONS

TASPO Sparks Radio Conversation with CScout

Written by: Michael Keferl on June 10, 2009 at 6:39 pm | In DIGITAL LIFE | No Comments

The last time I went on Spark, the CBC Radio show on “technology and culture”, we explored the world of QR Codes. This time, host Nora Young and I talk a bit about TASPO, RFID, and the contactless future of retail.

Unfortunately, Spark decided to edit out my anti-government comments in regards to registration of smokers, but you can’t expect much out of public radio in this regard. For the record, my opposition to government regulation in smoking life has been well documented.

You can listen live today (June 10th) at 10:30 am Toronto time, subscribe to the Spark podcast, or get the mp3 of this episode by visiting their blog. I come in around the 14min mark.

Tags: Press, Press coverage, RFID, Tobacco
Category: DIGITAL LIFE
Other categories: MARKETING IDEAS, LIFESTYLE / FASHION, PRODUCT INNOVATIONS

Taspo FAIL - Japanese Reject Scarlet Letter of Smoking

Written by: Michael Keferl on May 19, 2009 at 6:18 pm | In LIFESTYLE / FASHION, MARKETING IDEAS | 4 Comments

We’ve written before about Taspo, the RFID-chipped ID card that allows “of age” (20 or older) smokers to get their smokes through any of the nations 420,000 tobacco vending machines. Mostly the campaign has been a disaster for folks who own vending machines, a boom for convenience stores (where you don’t need the cards), and and a burden for smokers who just want to buy a pack without registering themselves with Big Brother.

Taspo originally began their campaign to get people to sign up by providing application packets at vending machines. These required applicants to submit copies of identification, fill out a form, and provide pictures in specific sizes before mailing it all in. When this didn’t work, they began to set up stalls in conventions and train stations (like this one) to get folks signed up without having to pay for a picture.

Clearly, this hasn’t worked either, as a Taspo service center has even opened up in Yoyogi to provide instant ID checks and card creation within 30 minutes.

Out of 27 million smokers in Japan, only 33.7% have signed up for the card, a significant amount if you consider that the rest have nearly no chance to use vending machines at all. In fact, convenience store sales have jumped to record highs in the last year thanks to the “Taspo Boom” in the midst of recession.

Going by purely anecdotal evidence and personal experience, even the heaviest smokers want nothing to do with the card. For most, however, it’s not a privacy issue, but one of pride: They don’t want an official “smoking license”, complete with a picture of themselves, to buy something that is their choice. In order to protect a small minority (teenagers) the rest of society must bear the burden of Taspo.

If tobacco makers are actually interested in selling their products and not just submitting to what will surely become complete regulation, they would be embracing vending machines with facial recognition, rather than making their customers file with the authorities. Of course, facial recognition doesn’t always work, but it’s a relatively non-invasive way to solve a problem that isn’t such a big deal to begin with.

In the meantime, convenience stores should beware: Increased sales in your sector mean that you’re next on the chopping block. Expect a full-on Taspo reader integrated into cash registers in no time.

Tags: POS, Retail, RFID, Tobacco
Category: LIFESTYLE / FASHION, MARKETING IDEAS
Other categories: DIGITAL LIFE, PRODUCT INNOVATIONS

Capsule Hotels Modernize, Go Cashless with First Cabin

Written by: Michael Keferl on April 29, 2009 at 1:13 pm | In DIGITAL LIFE, LIFESTYLE / FASHION | 1 Comment

In my years in the countryside before moving to Tokyo, I had nowhere to stay when visiting the Big City. Being young and broke, I would usually sleep in an internet cafe which had private booths, blankets, and sometimes even showers for about $10 a night. If I was feeling particularly generous to myself I’d splurge and stay at a capsule hotel for $30-40, have a nice sauna to relax in, and my own private tube for sleeping. Below are pictures of the first one I ever stayed in:

Now a company called First Cabin is changing the game and somewhat combining the two concepts with their airline-themed mini hotel in Namba, Osaka. The building contains 111 rooms (only 12 for women) that come in First Class ($50 / 4.2 sq. meter) and Business Class ($40 / 2.5 sq. meter) cabins that are fully equipped with TVs, AC power, Internet access, pajamas, and amenities.

There are also lounge and massage areas for relaxing out of the room, and shower/bath facilities for public bathing as is customary in capsule hotels and other cheap business hotels, but is actually rather nice once you get used to it. Daytime stays are also possible at $8 and $9 per hour.

First Cabin is also cashless, taking advantage of mobile technology that everyone has on them, and streamlining the process from beginning to end. Reservations can be made through a mobile application which then turns the phone into an RFID key to get customers inside the room areas. Using e-money solutions such as Suica and Edy, the same phone also pays for the room and any purchases made inside such as food and drinks. Thus, it’s possible to reserve a room and stay comfortably without even carrying a wallet.

First Cabin’s debut hotel is in Namba, Osaka, so if you’re in town and in need of a quick nap or overnight stay you can make reservations online and pay by card or cash if need be.

Tags: e-money, Mobile, RFID
Category: DIGITAL LIFE, LIFESTYLE / FASHION
Other categories: MARKETING IDEAS, PRODUCT INNOVATIONS

Taspo rules bring retail back to tobacco

Written by: Michael Keferl on January 2, 2009 at 1:54 pm | In MARKETING IDEAS | 1 Comment

Last summer, the Japanese tobacco industry imposed a rather large burden on itself by requiring the use of Taspo (tobacco passport), an RFID identification and payment card, for adults to purchase tobacco from vending machines. While the cards require photo registration my mail, the benefit is that they can also act as cash for purchases much like PASMO, Nanaco, and other e-money.

However, despite heaps of money spent on Taspo awareness through flyers, advertising, and hands-on a marketing campaigns, most Japanese smokers aren’t signing up for the card. As a result, vending machines are losing revenue, smokers are frustrated, and convenience stores are happily picking up the slack.

While Japan has tobacco vending machines just about anywhere, rendering all of them inoperable to most of the public has driven the market back to retail. Japan used to be littered with tiny tobacco shops that sold its wares out of a small window, but these storefronts dwindled and were eventually replaced by vending machines. Now the shops are coming back, and brands are making it their new business to focus on making the shops look as spiffy as possible.

The shop above (on the left) is in Harajuku, and surrounded by what used to be busy vending machines. Now it has a brand new interior and exterior, plus staff inside to sell their wares. For marketers, this is a new opportunity to connect with customers in a way that they couldn’t with vending machines. New campaigns, free gifts, and other benefits are simple with small retail spaces.

Of course, this will all be contingent on where the government and tobacco industry go from here: Whether driver’s licenses are eventually allowed to be used at the machines, they relax the rules (unlikely), or if they reinforce an already ridiculous policy by requiring Taspo at retail locations as well.

Tags: RFID, Taspo, Tobacco, Vending Machines
Category: MARKETING IDEAS
Other categories: DIGITAL LIFE, LIFESTYLE / FASHION, PRODUCT INNOVATIONS