The number of people receiving coupons via their mobile phones is expected to rise by 30% next year, according to a new report from Juniper Research. That means more than 500 million people worldwide are expected to have a coupon on their phone in 2013.
Integrating coupon applications with social networks is expected to drive some of this increase, as is Apple’s recent introduction of its Passbook ticket app.
In addition, the report notes that coupon strategies are changing. Coupons are now being used to develop relationships with consumers, not simply to drive footfall into shops, with coupon redemption data enabling retailers to tailor future offers.
However, mobile coupon deployment is being slowed in some cases because existing Point of Sale terminals aren’t able to process them.
Dr Windsor Holden, the author of the report and Research Director with Juniper Research, said “POS terminals can have a lifespan of a decade or more, so understandably retailers are wary about disrupting the terminal lifecycle and investing in new technology - whether NFC or barcode scanner - without being able to demonstrate a clear return on that investment .”
[Whitepaper; report]