Web Payments Support for Electronic Commerce

Goals

Web Payments promise to revolutionize how buyers and sellers perform payment transactions. Through standardization, these transactions will become far less dependent on specific website configurations or on "in-app" implementations on mobile devices. But there is more work to be done to bring this same flexibility to the distribution and use of the digital incentives that merchants need to offer their customers. Digital incentives include anything that can influence customer choices at the point of purchase, and include things like award and redemption of loyalty for purchases, use of coupons, or incentives on payment methods, etc.

Merchants and retailers need more than just this simple level of standardization, however.

• Merchants want to know who is transacting with them. Merchants make the case that they can offer a better experience to customers when they know about the customers. "Knowing" can be light (first 6 digits of a card number + a first name) or heavy (some PKI signed credential).
• All of the payment methods that a customer wants should work in tandem with incentives, and any regulatory interactions required should be automatic.
• Merchants need to be able to provide customers offers in advance of a shopping experience or during the checkout process depending on various criteria (merchandise selected, offer codes and tender types).
• Customers should be able to transact online using EBT/SNAP accounts
• Customers should be able to choose among payment methods to find the ones that give them the best "deal"

Failing to provide for any of these needs can degrade the customer/merchant relationship. Addressing these needs is deeply intertwined into the payment process.

The overall goal of this task force is to assemble the necessary players to review the requirements and provide standards needed from the Web Payments Activity.

Problem statement

The problem can be addressed in two parts. The task force can address the first item starting immediately. The second item is longer term.

1. Immediate - Update the Web Payments Use Cases to address immediate eCommerce needs.
   • Treat coupons and loyalty redemption as payment methods.
   • Provide standardized information from payment methods so that “wallet” can determine “best deal.”
   • Support multiple payment instruments per transaction.
   • Consider problems associated with single-use methods of payment (like some coupons).
   • Allow definition and maybe negotiation of consumer information available to the merchant.
2. Near Term - Work to gather necessary players for requirements and recommendations.
   • Matching products to payment methods
   • Determining taxability based on products and payment methods

Deliverables

1. Update the existing use cases document to provide a more robust description of Merchant and Retailer needs. Starting list for study:
   • Section 3.1 - Negotiation of Payment Terms
     • [change] Agreement on Terms. The payer and the payee agree to what will be purchased, for how much, in what currency, which payment schemes (including loyalty programs and coupons) are acceptable, etc.
     • [add] Section to allow designation of level of customer information allowed (it might change the payment negotiation).
   • Section 6.1.1 – Discovery of Offer
     • [add] Case for multiple payment methods.
     • [add] Case for taxes.
     • [add] Case for coupons and loyalty to act as payment methods.
2. Form a committee to advise the creation of a W3C workshop whose purpose is to inform the IG on the requirements for a charter for a WG to address the more complex eCommerce issues.

Dependencies

• existing use cases document.

Success criteria

Updated use cases document available for review and approval/adoption at the February face to face meeting.

Concerns

• Maintaining proper level of commitment from retailers

Milestones / Timeline

1. week of 2015-12-14
   • Dragoon potential members for Task Force
   • Circulate an introductory email to members of Task Force, explaining use case structure.
   • Initial proposed members (all are welcome): MAG (Walmart), Target, Conexxus, NACS, maybe NRF (guest)
2. week of 2015-12-21
   • Initial telcon
   • Assign initial use case tasks
   • Discuss next steps for forming a Workshop
3. week of 2016-01-18
   • Second telcon
   • Review work on workshop
   • Make final plans for use cases
4. weeks of 2016-01-25 / 2016-02-15
   • Complete use cases
   • Prepare presentation for the Face to Face meeting at Google, including use cases work and proposed Workshop Agenda.
5. [milestone] 2016-02-15 Working draft of Use Cases for IG Review

Potential eCommerce Workshop Planning

Work has begun on a potential W3C workshop. This TF will be helping to set the program, with the desire being to find meaningful spec building work for the W3C. For the Web Payments Activity, our focus it to make sure that relevant items below that are clearly part of the payment process are standardized in such a way that they will be able to function within the specifications for payment that we are currently creating in the WG. What follows below is a mix of potential participants, things they would see as requirements, and things they might need to understand in order to support other participants in this value ecosystem. The following stakeholders have been identified, along with their potential interests:

• Merchants
  • Multi-tender transactions
  • Coupons
    • GS1/JICC
      • Recommendation for moving to low-risk cash voucher.
      • No server query required.
      • Optional authorization depending on value.
      • Better redemption statistics (480B issued and only 4B redeemed).
  • Loyalty programs
  • Goal: ability to support "dynamic spend" across all of these items. Everything should be part of one "tender-pool."
• CPGs
  • Coupons and digital offers.
  • Proof of age.
  • Better redemption statistics.
• OEMs
  • Proximity connectivity and functionality such as NFC, BTLE
  • Support for ability to do multi-tender transactions
• Issuers
  • "Pay with Points" should be part of the tender pool.

Notes

• Adrian Hope-Bailie posted an interesting article on eCommerce for review.
• David Ezell gave a presentation at the Sapporo Face to Face October 27, 2015.
• The topic was discussed at the W3C Web and Digital Marketing Convergence Workshop in September, 2016.