Cincinnati Enquirer:

Macy’s is expanding Cincinnati-tested technology that enables in-store shoppers to browse items not on shelves and even skip the checkout this holiday. It’s part of a broader push to woo Millennial customers and boost overall convenience and efficiency.

Customers looking for the hottest new Michael Kors purse that’s not stocked in their favorite color have been able hunt for their hue at point-of-purchase terminals at the Kenwood Towne Centre store as part of the Cincinnati-region testing.

The touchscreen point of purchase or “POP” machines confirm if an item is in the store – or at any store nearby or across the country. Also being expanded are local “look book” terminals – touchscreen catalogs that replace some mannequins and show the shopper how some clothes look paired with other garments or accessories.

So far, so good. Macy’s is exposing their inventory system to customers. Makes for more efficiency all the way around. But then the article digs in to the various tech in play. When it comes to explaining Apple Pay:

How it works: Customers with the new iPhone 6 and the Apple Watch will be able to pay at registers with a wave of their devices. Customers buy virtual encrypted “tokens” from Apple to be stored on their phones – so in the event they’re lost or stolen, no credit card info is on the device. More details will be released this month by Apple.

I still struggle to get my head around exactly how Apple Pay works, but I do know that customers won’t be buying “virtual encrypted tokens” from Apple. Hard to blame the Enquirer, though. This is a complex process. But taking a complex process and wrapping it in a dead simple service is Apple’s specialty.

And that’s the key. If Apple Pay works seamlessly and adds a layer of security/indirection to the credit card universe, it’s not so critical that the end user truly understands the inner mechanics.