As one of the most popular and effective tools in the arsenal of mobile marketing, mobile coupons have quickly resonated with consumers who are as tech-savvy as they are bargain-conscious. Unfortunately, one of the earliest and most pervasive complaints about mobile coupons is that they aren’t widely accepted by some of the world’s biggest and most ubiquitous retailers.
For a time, the inability of many large retailers to accommodate mobile coupons certainly impeded both the growth of the mobile marketing industry and the spread of mobile coupon popularity. But now, as prominent companies and retail outlets line up to incorporate the use of mobile coupons into their advertising platforms, it seems we’ve inched closer to a reality where mobile coupons are more than just commonplace. They’re now reaching the mainstream like never before.
The latest major player to hop on the mobile coupon bandwagon is Target. The company has now enabled customers to redeem special mobile coupon offers via their cell phone. The Target-brand of mobile coupons work as you would expect. The coupon is redeemed at the point of sale when the barcode is scanned during check-out.
In addition to building brand loyalty and driving in store traffic, the addition of mobile coupons will help Target build a larger customer database. That is, Target shoppers who want to utilize the retail giant’s new mobile coupon program are required to opt in online or via text.
As Target now comes into the fold of mobile coupons, other larger retailers will likely soon follow. So if mobile coupons haven’t officially gone mainstream yet, they’re certainly much closer to that eventuality now than they have ever been before.