CINCINNATI — Beginning today, Kroger shoppers can visit www.shortcuts.com, load online coupons to their Kroger loyalty card, and paperlessly redeem them at the checkout. Kroger is the first retailer to link its loyalty cards to AOL’s new Shortcuts electronic coupon service. “We’re always looking for new and innovative ways to build customer loyalty and saw the Shortcuts program as another way of helping us to do so,” said Ken Fenyo, vice president of corporate loyalty for The Kroger Co., in a statement. “Shoppers are spending more time online and are always looking for ways to save money and save time.” Kroger is also piloting a mobile coupon program with Procter & Gamble, Clorox, Del Monte, General Mills and Kimberly-Clark, according to a published report. Consumers involved in the test download a mobile marketing application called Cellfire to their cell phone. Participants can then peruse discounts offered by Cellfire’s mobile shopping mall and choose the ones they’d like to redeem. Their choices are electronically sent to Kroger for paperless redemption at the point of sale. Kroger’s foray into electronically loaded coupons was the result of a partnership forged with P&G last year. Available via a link on the Kroger website, eSaver allows Kroger customers to load P&G offers onto their Kroger loyalty card accounts with the click of a button.

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