Friday, October 10, 2008

Shop through your nearest retail ATM

Mumbai: You can now buy electronic products without having to visit a shop. Andheri-based Streme-Niche Softek Ltd has developed Retail ATM, which will help you buy different products by feeding your credit card number and address through your cellphone into the ATM.

Next week, Streme will install 50 retail ATMs in cafeterias, hotels and restaurants across the city. The ATMs will offer 81 products under nine categories. One can shop for electronics, movie tickets, books, CDs and chocolates through the ATM.

Initially, it will accept payments only through credit cards. But, later will accept debit cards as well. Deven Limaye, CEO, Streme said, "The idea is to facilitate the retailer with alternate channels for sales."

However, Ryan Martis, an IT professional, finds the concept of Retail ATM akin to online shopping. "I find it boring. I would rather go and buy products from a store."

How it works

The customer must dial a toll-free Interactive Voice Response number provided by the ATM on his cellphone. A number selects a corresponding product on screen, where one can see its audio-visual content. The customer has the option to collect it from a particular retail store.
Source: www.mid-day.com

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