As the mobile VAS industry is brimming with new services and offers and businesses look at more and more ways to reach the customer, a new trend is resulting from the culmination of this phenomenon, the availability of discount vouchers on mobile phones.
According to Cisco IBSG Connected Life Market Watch, nearly 70 per cent of consumers in India carry their mobile phones during shopping. As a lot of buying decisions are based on impulse, many businesses are now aiming at providing the customer discount coupons on their mobile phones with or without a location based focus to convert the customer’s impulse into actual sales.
The industry is already in swing with many businesses already exploiting its potential. Cisco IBSG Connected Life Market Watch’s research reveals that 20 per cent customers redeem mobile coupons. Mobile coupons are used by over 3,000 retailers. The industry is currently valued at Rs 5-crore and has the potential to become a Rs 50-crore market in the next five years.
The reason the industry is picking up is the comfort and ease of availability mobile coupons provide. The way this works is if a consumer walks into a mall and his service provider has tie-ups with brands located in the mall, the consumer would get an instant SMS, informing him about, say, a buy-one-get-one-free offer. Google started its service of providing location based mobile coupons way back in 2007 and has been promoting it by enhancing its features regularly.
It has been observed that smaller retail outlets seem more open to using this service because cost of mobile coupons is up to four times lower than paper-fliers. Moreover analysts believe that they help vendors to target – the young, affluent, and tech-savvy consumers who form an important customer segment for most businesses.
So what is expected in the future? Brand-sponsored applications for mobile phones are the next step in mobile retailing is what industry experts believe could be the next big thing. While downloading applications is still to pick up in India one cannot deny the potential the handheld device possesses for marketers.
Mobile coupons sure look like an interesting service in this regard. But as long as they don’t cross over the line to becoming a nuisance crowding people’s cell phones with offers and discounts, it definitely seems like an idea that will succeed. What do you think?
Mobile marketing is going to change marketing and advertising like nothing else in history. With the ability to do comparison pricing while shopping gives the consumer a powerful weapon. Stores will need to capitalize on the those that are in the store looking at any particular product and find ways to keep them there and buy that product. There needs to be an emphasis on “value added” pricing and perceived customer service to keep them and influence the purchase, otherwise they risk losing that customer. Its like they have a realtime coupon book going wherever they are. But the opposite is also true-the stores have the potential to connect with them while they are in the store. This is the key to making this all work to their benefit.