Incentivizing the shopping cart with mobile-based coupons

Mobile technology has permeated virtually every aspect of our lives today. Information gathering, communication, social conversations and shopping are all touched by mobile technology. Supermarket chains and grocers in particular are now paying closer attention to leveraging mobile technology as a way to get closer to their customers, and increase sales.

Supermarket chains are already leveraging various mobile integrations, from cashless registers to mobile scan and payment technologies. Beyond these areas, supermarket chains are now beginning to leverage the power of mobile for their coupon programs, recognizing that mobile represents a brighter future than paper-based coupons.

Consumers are interested in the idea of mobile coupons as it makes shopping at a supermarket easier by removing the hassle of having to print coupons at home and remember to bring them with. Studies have shown that 40% of consumers don’t make a purchase because they left their coupon at home.

Many consumers say that these programs actually motivate them to make purchases more often.

In order for a mobile-based coupon program to be successful, it must increase engagement with customers that results in an increase of purchase behavior. Because mobile has permeated across every facet of our digital society, it offers the perfect channel for this type of engagement.

Emerging tactics include mobilizing clip-to-card coupons, and using mobile wallet as a marketing tool. Clip-to-card is effective because it enables customers to add existing offers and promotions to their coupon account or store card, drives coupon account acquisition, and enables immediate offer redemptions.

Grocers are also realizing great benefits with mobile wallet-based coupons, including driving foot traffic and increased sales as a result of location-based reminders; updateable offers ensuring customers have the latest offers; and a perpetual presence on the customer's mobile device.

With the immense popularity of Pokemon Go, interactive-based coupons are on the rise. By enabling interactive games, where offers are received through rich device gestures — such as scratch and shake-to-reveal — consumers can engage with a higher level of entertainment experiences. Interactive coupons also increase conversion rates with instant gratification from gamified experiences—resulting in incremental sales and customer lifetime value; and post-interaction linking enables a wide range of activity — including add to mobile wallet, redirect to ecommerce site, deep link to native app and share via social.

The statistics show promise for grocers. Based on recent research, 47% of consumers say relevant offers increase their grocery store loyalty and 70% of in-store coupons impact purchase behavior.

Coupons are a part of a broader mobile strategy being employed by supermarket chains. With mobile, supermarkets can alert customers when they are near a frequently shopped location and offer an incentive — driving traffic to physical store locations. Furthermore, mobile-enabled loyalty programs can be tied into the existing CRM/loyalty database to reflect current point balances, or to present updates on a user’s loyalty level.

Other benefits of mobile-enabled loyalty programs include increased shopping carts, reduction of cost in comparison with paper-based reward strategies, personalized engagement, and separation from competition. With the countless benefits, it is hard to fathom why more grocers do not have these mobile programs implemented in their systems.

In order to have the best mobile-enabled coupon and loyalty program possible, it is important to motivate, reward and make it fun for consumers. If these three things are accomplished, grocers will realize increased engagement levels, higher coupon redemption and amplified sales potential in addition to higher customer satisfaction rates — all key elements that will keep customers coming back for more.