Mary Kay is providing its beauty consultants in Canada with an easier method of bringing payments to customers through mobile, making credit and debit purchases more accessible.

The direct selling service is now providing its vendors with a mobile application that includes inventory, digital receipts, payment methods and real-time insights personalized for each individual. The new app will allow Mary Kay to expand its operations much more easily in the mobile-first retail age.

Mobility in direct selling
While consumers are often likely to purchase from friends and family, giving direct seller businesses like Mary Kay an opportunity to sell through individuals rather than storefronts, the lack of mobile experiences can hold these companies back. Retailers ranging from big-box stores to online startups are now incorporating a wide range of mobile and digital tactics that make it easier for consumers to pay for, browse and receive products.

However, direct seller companies such as Mary Kay provided difficulties to purchase items without cash or check. Mary Kay is now alleviating some of these pain points and keeping current with consumer behavior by allowing shoppers to pay with credit and debit cards through mobile devices.

Sellers have the opportunity to show off their inventory through the mobile app for shoppers to browse and purchase. The app also provides individual sellers with information that can help them grow their business with insights and stats on how they are doing.

May Kay has partnered with Global Payments to provide the payments system, which uses Bluetooth to connect to shoppers’ phones. However, the solution is only available in Canada for now.

Mobile payments
CVS Health similarly joined the slew of marketers rolling out their own mobile payments services with the introduction of CVS Pay, an in-application feature that enables customers to pay for items, pick up prescriptions and collect loyalty points using a single bar code (see more).

Following two successful pilots that exceeded expectations, American Food and Vending also added smartphone payment acceptance to vending machines in 35 cities, reflecting consumers’ growing reliance on mobile payments (see more).