Case Study: LAVA Provides a Custom-built Solution for a Customer Loyalty System

Mobile payment and customer loyalty systems are common these days but LAVA was an early adopter. This article looks at a mobile payments and rewards solution LAVA helped to develop. The kiosk featured a custom-built LAVA SimulCharge adapter and a Lenovo tablet.

LAVA partnered with a loyalty rewards company to create a POS tablet kiosk as an all-in-one system for payments, loyalty and rewards. The goal behind the project was to build a reliable and affordable mobile solution to help local communities by turning their loyalty programs into a massive database for hyper-targeted marketing. This new POS kiosk could also be integrated with existing POS systems if the business only wanted to use the kiosk for loyalty programs. The kiosk would be aimed primarily at the food and hospitality industries.

The hardware and software solution integrated a LAVA SimulCharge adapter with a Lenovo tablet, a card reader and a slim tablet kiosk casing. This was the first time LAVA worked with Lenovo, having previously only built adapters for Samsung tablets.

Because Lenovo’s hardware was different than Samsung’s, LAVA decided to build a custom adapter for the kiosk. The result was a modified version of what you can now buy as the nLTS-vc3U. It was designed to work with two tablets, the now-discontinued Lenovo Tab 4 (TB-8504F) and its successor, the Lenovo Tab M8 HD (TB-8505F). A slight modification needed to be done to the board, depending on which tablet was used.

The SimulCharge adapter provided the Lenovo tablet with simultaneous charging and access to data, three USB-A ports for peripherals and a voltage converter. The USB-A ports were used for the internal scanner, an external card reader and the kiosk kept the third port as an exposed connector so the customer could add their own peripheral, such as a receipt printer.

The voltage converter allowed the adapter to take a power input of between 9 and 36 volts DC. The kiosk could be placed up to 50 ft (15 m) away from the AC power source, providing more options on where to install it. The low DC voltage allowed these adapters to operate in permanent and semi-permanent installations while being fully compliant with local electrical codes. This eliminated the expense of hiring an electrician and the requirement of dedicated AC cable routing and installation.

The tablet kiosk and software could provide both payment processing and rewards at the same time, making it a smooth process for both the business and the customer. When a customer joined the loyalty program, their phone number would be linked to their credit card (or multiple credit cards). When they returned, they’d be automatically recognized.

LAVA built a custom adapter; a modified version of what is now the nLTS-vc3U, for use with a payment and loyalty kiosk that featured a Lenovo tablet and two card readers (one internal and one external). The system could be used on its own as an all-in-one POS and customer rewards system or as just a loyalty system in tandem with a separate POS system.

To find out more about LAVA SimulCharge adapters for Lenovo’s tablets and their possible use in retail and other sectors, check out LAVA’s website.