Wazzup Pilipinas!
Thank you BeamAndGo for the experience of convenience in buying groceries at Super-8 Grocery Store,Ortigas Ext., My transaction was on Sunday August 9 in the morning and the text message was sent to the recipient the following day Monday August 10. Since we were both working throughout the weekdays, we claimed the online GC only today Sunday August 16 after coming from church. I'm impressed with how the Super-8 staff treated us like we were VIPs. We were actually the very first to use this Internet transaction at their branch.
What exactly is BeamAndGo?
I've posted an initial article about what exactly it is and how it greatly helps avoid remittances being misspent on other stuff. You may want to read it first by clicking on the link. BeamAndGo allows the sender to send a recipient an online GC using the service. A code will be sent through the recipient's mobile phone in the form of 3 Short Messaging System (SMS) text messages that they can show at certain partner establishments to easily claim the service.
The best example is this experience of ours when we tried the convenient facility at Super8 Grocery Warehouse located at Ortigas Extension. We got a hold of a voucher when a co-founder of Beam And Go gave us the opportunity to use their system. He was one of our guests at the Vigattin Radio show of Radyo Inquirer aired every Saturday from 10 to 11 am where I co-anchor with Elison Barcelo and Arne Barcelo. Even before the show started that day, he already handed over a voucher and encouraged me to try it out. He also gave some more to our other guests in the show so they too can experience what BeamAndGo is all about.
Amazingly, the service was really fast. I started the online transaction on the morning of August 9 and it immediately sent over an advise stating a text message will be sent o August 11. It was understandable since August 9 was a weekend, so I thought they needed the Monday to process the request. But surprisingly, the intended recipient (my wife) got the text message the following day August 10.
The interface forms was very easy to understand. You only need to input just a few information. The system easily allowed us to send a certain amount to a recipient, and with our gift voucher, it was a special perk that made our purchase of the online GC for free. Also, the site says there is no service fee for the first transaction. That's already a bonus for first time users.
I erased the details of our information for confidentiality so you will notice blank spaces where data should normally be found.
Below are the e-mail messages you will receive as the sender of the online GC. I got a total of three email messages as seen below.
Here are photos of our Super8 Grocery warehouse visit.
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| Inside the Super8 Grocery Warehouse |
We were both busy during weekdays so we claimed the online GC on the next weekend Sunday August 16. How was our experience? Everything went smoothly, and we were treated like special VIP customers. Why?
There were no signage indicating where to use the BeamAndGo online GC, so we queued at one of the Cash/Credit lines. There were long lines at every cashier since most of the shoppers there were variety "sari-sari" store owners. During our turn to be served, we were politely informed that we should have fall in line at Cashier 2. The cashier took the initiative to put the groceries back in the push cart and escorted us at Cashier 2 which was busy processing a long line of unattended grocery push carts filed with groceries. They stopped doing that just to serve us. A supervisor came and helped the cashier process our transaction while referring to a form or manual where they can read how the transaction should take place. They asked for the smartphone from us so they can read the information they need, my wife signed a short form or receipt, and then afterwards they politely asked us to delete the message from our smartphone.
By the way, we exceeded the online GC amount so we had to pay extra cash for the excess, but still the process was fast and convenient. In my opinion, the entire process was way faster than using the card options as there were no swiping involved. Super8 Grocery Warehouse also did not need to have a swiping machine to process the transaction. The entire process was simply done using their existing terminal. This means the establishment who would soon use this BeamAndGo facility would not need to invest so much for a similar service and many consumers would indeed benefit from such.
There were no signage indicating where to use the BeamAndGo online GC, so we queued at one of the Cash/Credit lines. There were long lines at every cashier since most of the shoppers there were variety "sari-sari" store owners. During our turn to be served, we were politely informed that we should have fall in line at Cashier 2. The cashier took the initiative to put the groceries back in the push cart and escorted us at Cashier 2 which was busy processing a long line of unattended grocery push carts filed with groceries. They stopped doing that just to serve us. A supervisor came and helped the cashier process our transaction while referring to a form or manual where they can read how the transaction should take place. They asked for the smartphone from us so they can read the information they need, my wife signed a short form or receipt, and then afterwards they politely asked us to delete the message from our smartphone.
By the way, we exceeded the online GC amount so we had to pay extra cash for the excess, but still the process was fast and convenient. In my opinion, the entire process was way faster than using the card options as there were no swiping involved. Super8 Grocery Warehouse also did not need to have a swiping machine to process the transaction. The entire process was simply done using their existing terminal. This means the establishment who would soon use this BeamAndGo facility would not need to invest so much for a similar service and many consumers would indeed benefit from such.
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| The long lines at the Super8 Grocery Warehouse |
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| Shopping for a few groceries to try out the BeamAndGo service |
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| Super8 staff processing our online GC |
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| The actual messages you'll receive on your mobile phone |
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| Box and paper bag containing a few groceries we were able to purchase at Super8 using the BeamAndGo payment service |
The staff also informed us that we were the very first customers to use this payment facility. Wow! It is an honor to be the first one to try it out. I'm sure many would soon follow once the news about this service spreads among the rest of the Filipinos here and abroad.
What are the minor shortcomings?
1. The text message could not display the entire name of the sender and recipient. I believe they have a limitation of 16 characters for the names. But this was never an issue during the claiming.
1. The text message could not display the entire name of the sender and recipient. I believe they have a limitation of 16 characters for the names. But this was never an issue during the claiming.
2. There are no signs at the cashier stations indicating where the BeamAndGo service can be claimed. According to the grocery staff, no one was claiming the service yet so they haven't put on any signage. BeamAndGo should see this as an opportunity to ask the establishment if they could put a signage at the appropriate cashiers. We would have been served a lot faster if we had not fall in line like the rest of the customers.
The major advantage of the BeamAndGo service?
1. This is way better than using a credit card which would require you to pay an annual fee, and will tempt you to overspend since you have the freedom to spend your credit anywhere else.
2. Very minor charge for use of the service.
3. Senders are in peace knowing that the recipient will surely use the online GCs at the intended establishments.
3. Senders are in peace knowing that the recipient will surely use the online GCs at the intended establishments.
4. They can actually ask BeamAndGo to resend the text message if the recipient accidentally deleted it.
5. No more need to carry around the extra weight of a card which will just bulk up your wallet.
The grocery was only two short rides away from our home so we got back quickly.
From our experience, I now imagine a future when all transactions can be done using our mobile phones. A future where there is no longer the need to bring actual cash and any other objects like a credit card in every purchase, bills payments and other similar transactions. We just need a similar device like our smartphones to facilitate every transaction possible using the power of the Internet.
Well done, BeamAndGo! You're our glimpse of the future!
The grocery was only two short rides away from our home so we got back quickly.
From our experience, I now imagine a future when all transactions can be done using our mobile phones. A future where there is no longer the need to bring actual cash and any other objects like a credit card in every purchase, bills payments and other similar transactions. We just need a similar device like our smartphones to facilitate every transaction possible using the power of the Internet.
Well done, BeamAndGo! You're our glimpse of the future!
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