American Apparel customers will now be able to buy cotton hoodies and t-shirts using Apple Pay. The retailer is using software provided by Index to improve security, future-proof payments and significantly expand digital capabilities across its U.S. stores.
Despite falling on hard times financially over the past few years, the Los Angeles-based American Apparel exited Chapter 11 bankruptcy in February 2016 and now operates 227 stores in 19 countries.
“Our launch with Index provides a strong technical foundation to prepare our stores for the future,” said Brian McHale, CIO of American Apparel. “Index is an incredibly valuable partner to help us accomplish our objective of moving major systems to the cloud and overhauling security.”
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The system upgrade cements American Apparel as a forward-thinking retailer that is adapting to the preferences of its Millennial customer base. “We tend to see Millennials as the earliest adopters of Apple Pay,” said Thoryn Stevens, CDO at American Apparel. “We are razor-focused on customer centricity and improving the consumer experience both online and in-store. As we move faster toward a cashless society, à la Uber and AirBnB, customers will resonate with payment options such as Apple Pay.”
Index, co-founded in 2012 by Google Wallet co-creator and product leads Jonathan Wall and Marc Freed-Finnegan, will also bring Android Pay and other NFC-based mobile payment services to American Apparel’s U.S. stores. The new systems will also include security features such as point-to-point encryption (P2PE) and EMV for Chip-and-Signature or Chip-and-PIN cards.
American Apparel joins several other popular U.S. brands that have or will adopt Apple Pay by the end of 2016. Apple Pay is now available at more than two million retail locations in the U.S., UK, Australia, Canada and China.
