Coupons have been with us for ages, but mobile coupons are a new and steadily growing slice of the market that present exciting opportunities for developers and merchants alike.
Last year, about were 92.5 million digital coupons were redeemed. Most were online coupons redeemed while shopping on a desktop or laptop. 16.3% of mobile users, however, also redeemed a mobile coupon using their device last year. This figures is growing at a few percent each year, and total mobile coupon redemptions are expected to reach 53.2 million by 2014.
Apps for mobile couponing are constantly being released to meet demand for these mobile deals. Some offer rich functionality, allowing users to scan barcodes of products to find deals, display coupons for scanning at registers, and earn rewards simply for entering a store and launching the app. Some of these apps are still a bit buggy, however. Technical issues involving redemption at point of sale are well documented, but improvements are always under development.
In addition, certain register software platforms allow for entry of texted coupon codes, which skirt these problems. In fact, according to certain polls, users generally prefer to receive mobile coupons via SMS or display them for scanning at a register, and are redeeming mobile coupons at 10 times the rate of print coupons (10% versus 1%). Indeed, some shoppers are considering cancelling subscriptions to newspapers they were maintaining solely for the coupons, because digital coupons are meeting all their needs. For advertisers, this factor is strongly in favor of focusing on mobile coupons, as opposed to traditional print circulars.
Delivery methods vary widely. Scanning QR codes, checking in on an app, tapping a point-of-sale terminal, or using digital “loyalty cards” are all ways for consumers to make use of mobile coupons. But some in the industry have noted that many users are reluctant to adopt technological developments, which holds some of these methods back. Naturally, the more friction points there are, the less likely people are to actually redeem a coupon.
Regardless of these difficulties, mobile coupon use continues to grow, and retailers, developers, advertisers, and other industry players should consider including mobile coupons in their strategies going forward. Opportunities abound, and the technology is still in a relatively early phase, allowing nimble players to get in on the ground floor of a developing market.
And that’s just good business.