Target Scans Mobile Coupons

MICHAEL GARRY

MINNEAPOLIS — For food retailers, coupons on mobile phones present two problems: The cashier needs an image scanner to scan the 2-D coupon bar code — most grocers use laser scanners not suited for this purpose — and multiple coupons take too long to scan individually.

Last year, Target here overcame both of those issues by employing image scanners at the checkouts in its 1,800 stores and by adopting a mobile coupon system from CodeBroker, Belmont, Mass., that creates a single bar code for multiple mobile coupon redemptions.

All of Target’s mobile offers, which include grocery items that are both manufacturer- and Target-backed, are single use and expire on the date listed. New offers are provided monthly as the previous offers expire.

Shoppers can opt in to the program at Target.com/mobile, on their phone at m.target.com, or by texting COUPONS to 827438 (TARGET). After opt-in, shoppers receive a text message with a link to a mobile Web page that contains multiple offers, all accessible through the single barcode.

Target was the first U.S. retailer “to have the ability to scan a bar code directly from a mobile device at any store nationwide,” said Molly Koenst, a Target spokeswoman.

She declined to comment on usage or redemption rates of the mobile coupons. In contrast to Target, food retailers lack 2-D-scanning image scanners; those offering digital coupon programs online or via mobile phones typically have shoppers download the coupons to their loyalty card, allowing the coupons to be readily processed at the POS. To accommodate food retailers, CodeBroker plans to launch a mobile couponing system that doesn’t require an image scanner, said Dan Slavin, chief executive officer, CodeBroker.