{"id":1195,"date":"2025-09-22T21:13:39","date_gmt":"2025-09-22T21:13:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lakaindustrija.hr\/case-study\/mstart-mercator-slovenia-retail\/"},"modified":"2026-02-26T09:50:23","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T09:50:23","slug":"mstart-mercator-slovenia-retail","status":"publish","type":"case-study","link":"https:\/\/lakaindustrija.hr\/en\/case-study\/mstart-mercator-slovenia-retail\/","title":{"rendered":"mStart \/ Mercator Slovenia (retail)"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Context<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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In recent years, most retailers in retail have implemented loyalty programs to increase customer satisfaction and repeat purchases. One such loyalty program is the Pika card, which in Slovenia is accepted at all Mercator points of sale as well as at other merchants \u2014 partners. <\/p>

Collecting points and using loyalty benefits requires a complex infrastructure, cards, mobile applications, and in some cases even separate dedicated card readers at checkouts. The goal of the project to enable acceptance of the Pika card at Mercator was to simplify the customer experience by integrating the loyalty program directly into the EFT-POS terminal, thus allowing customers to use a single point of contact \u2014 the payment terminal \u2014 for payment and points collection. <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Challenges<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Mercator\u2019s business decision to process card payments through the payment infrastructure of mStart required adaptation of the card acceptance process by extending the existing solution to enable the use of Pika cards in all their forms: magstripe, Chip&PIN, contactless, and via mobile application.<\/p>

In addition, it was necessary to enable integration of the payment terminal with the checkout software to ensure synchronization of purchase data, calculation of point allocation, and the ability to use earned discounts in real time.<\/p>

On top of all that, it was necessary to maintain the existing level of transaction processing security and compliance with PCI DSS standards and local regulatory requirements.<\/p>

Of course for Mercator the most important thing was the customer experience at the end of the purchase.
The solution we developed ensured fast, intuitive and simple use of Pika card functionality without additional steps that would burden the payment process. <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Solution<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe solution we developed in response to the set goals was integrated into the existing solution normally used on EFT-POS terminals in the mStart network.
We united standard payments and loyalty functionalities and expanded the list of supported transactions to ensure: \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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  • \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/path><\/svg>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tProcessing of all types of card products \u2014 physical cards with magstripe, chip and contactless interfaces as well as virtual cards stored on mobile devices<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
  • \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/path><\/svg>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAutomatic processing of complex rules for points collection and discount entitlement<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
  • \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/path><\/svg>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tInteraction with the checkout via exchange of relevant purchase data, earned points and discounts achieved by the cardholder<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
  • \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/path><\/svg>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDisplay of specific information for the customer on the terminal screen<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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    Result<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
    \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe final result consists of the following components:\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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    • \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/path><\/svg>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tIngenico EFT-POS payment terminals adapted to operate in conditions of fast customer flow at the point of sale: initially the Telium2 platform, later upgraded to the Tetra platform<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
    • \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/path><\/svg>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOur standard payment application enhanced with additional functionalities for processing transactions initiated by Pika cards, collecting loyalty points and calculating discounts<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
    • \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/path><\/svg>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAn integration module implemented through middleware that enables communication between the payment application and the checkout and other external systems while respecting all security regulations and card industry requirements<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
      \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBefore full production rollout into the entire Mercator network, a pilot project was carried out in selected stores to verify system performance. After successful completion of the pilot, the solution was successfully implemented in all stores. \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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      <\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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      Conclusion<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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      Through successful realization of this project, customers received a higher-quality, faster and more pleasant experience when paying in stores, and Mercator increased the frequency of purchases, reduced infrastructure costs at the point of sale as well as costs associated with card payments and gained better insight into customer habits. As a processor, mStart significantly increased the total number of transactions going through their system, allowing them better differentiation in the market. <\/p>

      Integration of card transaction processing and loyalty functionality represents a key innovation in retail because it combines payment and customer rewards through a unified infrastructure at the point of sale.
      This project has proven that it is possible to maintain transaction security and speed while simultaneously improving the customer experience. <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"featured_media":1196,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false},"class_list":["post-1195","case-study","type-case-study","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakaindustrija.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/case-study\/1195","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakaindustrija.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/case-study"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakaindustrija.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/case-study"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lakaindustrija.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/case-study\/1195\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1197,"href":"https:\/\/lakaindustrija.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/case-study\/1195\/revisions\/1197"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakaindustrija.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1196"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakaindustrija.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}