Major retailers all over the country are ramping up their mobile coupon offerings. Target recently launched a scannable coupon program that they are delivering to mobile phones. Best Buy has launched an entirely new retail direction with Best Buy Mobile. Even more significant than all this is the fact U.S. consumers are officially ready to be marketed to through their mobile devices. Surveys are even saying they want it.
Earlier this year Target claimed that they were the first major retailer to let shoppers access gift card accounts from smartphones and have the bar code scanned at checkout. Now they are claiming these scannable mobile coupons, which they are sending out directly to customers who can then redeem them via bar code at checkout, are another mobile retail first.
Best Buy is in the mobile coupon game via a partnership with a company called Cellfire and also through a mobile phone trade-in program working with ReCellular.
While recently released research from Forrester Research reveals that only a very small portion of the shopping population has adopted the technology, they also advise that this sector is heating up and that the slow start simply indicates merchants should “take the time to plan carefully before launching mobile coupon programs.”
Though Target may be the first big-box store to really roll out a mobile coupon strategy, there are others that have been experimenting with the technology since late last year. As more consumers are getting comfortable with the idea of using their mobile phones for m-commerce, many experts feel growth in this area could happen swiftly.
“It's following a similar pattern to what e-commerce went through,” began retail analyst Lauren Sosik. “As consumers got more comfortable and more trusting of shopping online, it began to explode. It's not a matter of 'if' with m-commerce, it's just waiting for the 'when'…and that's coming soon.”
JCPenney began testing scannable coupons at stores in the Houston area last fall with some success, and Yahoo recently partnered with Coupons Inc. to allow brand advertisers to distribute coupons via Yahoo Mobile. At last report that partnership was off to a solid start.
But perhaps the most encouraging mobile coupon news comes from a clothing store chain called Planet Funk, who recently ran a mobile coupon campaign that they claim, “resulted in a 377 percent return on investment.”
The retailer saw a 91 percent redemption rate on the coupons. Also, 20 percent of revenue for the month of December 2009 was generated by the almost 2,000 coupons that were created and sent as text messages via the digital marketing campaign they set up through a company called mobileStorm (www.mobilestorm.com).
“Mobile is a natural fit for our customers and being able to give them such coupons, both in the store and online, that can be instantly received on their phones is a no-brainer,” the folks at Planet Funk explained.
Now, the store targets that “hip youngsters” demographic, so obviously mobile was an ideal medium for them, but the ubiquitous nature of cell phones is blurring the lines between “hip” and “youngsters” more and more each passing month.
Back to the Target program for a minute, as they too have set up a fairly simple way for their customers to get in this game. Shoppers interested in getting the mobile coupons must “opt in” and register on Target's Web site. They can also text the word “COUPONS” to 827438. Once consumers are registered they will get text messages on their phones with links to a Web page that features various coupons. The program works with any phone that has a mobile browser and data plan for Internet use, the company said.
Target claims they will be issuing new coupons every month and as older coupons expire, new ones will appear on the mobile Web site. The coupons can be used at any Target store nationwide, but they cannot be used on Target.com.
When you see a statistic that claims 89 percent of the U.S. population now has a cell phone, released by CTIA, it's not at all surprising that smart retailers are looking at ways to leverage that to get people in their stores.
No clipping, no ink-stained hands, no crumpled pieces of paper—mobile couponing would appear to have a bright, stain-free future.
