Coupons delivered and redeemed via mobile phones are forecast to be used by some 200 million mobile subscribers globally by 2013, according to a new study by Juniper Research.
The Juniper Research report determined that the mobile coupons market is currently most advanced in Japan and Korea, but that growing numbers of mobile coupon services are being offered in the USA and Europe across all the main retail sectors including restaurants, entertainment, shopping and grocery. The developed nations of the Far East, North America and Western Europe are forecast to account for the major part of the market by 2013.
Report author Howard Wilcox gave more details: "Today the overwhelming majority of coupons are paper-based, but the mobile phone is the ultimate individual marketing device and mobile coupon pilots show greatly increased redemption rates – often double digit percentages."
The Juniper report highlighted the increased benefit in user convenience and the greater efficiencies for organisations operating mobile coupon campaigns as the two key benefits for the adoption of promotional coupons on the mobile platform. However some significant hurdles were identified, including the lack of suitable point of sale (POS) infrastructure at the supermarket checkout allowing for the quick and easy redemption of coupons, which is critical to the consumer shopping experience.
Nearly all mobile coupon usage today is in the Far East region. However by 2013 Western Europe and North America will together account for almost 20% of coupon redemption values. Technology is also a factor, with most mobile coupons today delivered by a code (often bar code) and SMS. In future, Near Field Communications (NFC) will become popular in this application.