Aera
Two of Norway’s largest retailers, Coop and NorgesGruppen, combined forces in 2016 to establish Aera, a joint venture that aims to deliver cost-effective, user-friendly and creative payment solutions for merchants with seamless recognition of loyalty program members.
Noria Consulting leveraged our expertise in payments technology, testing, and project-management to help develop Aera’s next-generation payment solutions for the retail sector.
The challenge
In an increasingly crowded payments landscape, Aera was established to safeguard Coop and NorgesGruppen’s interests in payment services and maintain the current high efficiency and low-cost of payments in Norway.
Aera is an omni-channel technology platform for payment and identification that enables merchants to develop seamless future customer experiences. The platform makes it easy to pay with all current and future types of payment, both in-store and online. Purchases are automatically registered with customer loyalty programs at the time of payment.
Cost effective payment integrated with the customer program
"With our platform we make it easy to pay with any current and future payment solutions, both online and at a physical store. The purchase is then automatically registered in the customer program, allowing the customer to take full advantage of the benefits it provides."
The results
By streamlining the development process and increasing the trust between all stakeholders, the joint venture has now released a brand-new, industry-strength solution capable of handling millions of transactions every week.
“Noria was instrumental in bringing the processes together and finding ways to help Aera and its subcontracts to work together as seamlessly and efficiently as possible”, says Øyvind Apelland, CEO at Aera Payment & Identification. Their in-depth knowledge of payments and testing were essential in terms of ensuring quality control through best-practice policies and procedures.”
In-store payment
"Aera allows payment via card, NFC, QR-codes and mobile phones. We offer both stationary and mobile terminals for retail stores."
Coop and NorgesGruppen have successfully launched and implemented the Aera payment solution across all retail stores; with a rollout that again leveraged Noria Consulting’s expertise and experience.
“The fact that Aera did engage Noria to manage these crucial steps of this project is a recognition of the value we have delivered”, says Østhagen.
Get in touch to discuss how Noria Consulting can help drive the successful delivery of the next generation of IT solutions at your organisation.