Get ready for mobile coupons

A recent survey from Juniper Research says that mobile coupons will become very popular in a few years and retailers would send around 3 billion mobile coupons by 2011.

Mobile coupons, in my opinion, are a brilliant way for a retailer to connect to his customers directly. It is way more effective than the coupons you find in newspapers and magazines. Most people, including yours truly, often forget to make use of the coupon clips within the required timescale. I, for one, collect various coupons from newspapers and magazines but hardly make use of them because most of the times I forget to take them when I go shopping. With mobile coupons, there is no such problem. You get a coupon in your text message and all you have to do is show it to the retailer/shop owner the next time you shop for something. Since we always have our mobile phone with us, it becomes easier.

QR codes can be a good idea, but then you can’t expect everyone to have a mobile phone with camera facility to scan the ads. But still, it’s a very good technology that can be used effectively.

We’ve already seen some examples where mobile coupon campaigns have been quite successful and I think it will continue to be so. Like I’ve always said, the most important thing is to provide value to people. If you do so, you’ll always find takers.

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, All things mobile phones.

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The future is mobile

A recent Harris Interactive Study comes up with some interesting statistics.

1. Around 25% of mobile users like to access mobile internet and purchase things using their credit card.

2. Around 20% of users expressed interest in the concept of mobile wallet – in which charges will be billed to their mobile accounts.

3. Around 10% expressed their interest for stock trading and wire transfers via their mobile phone.

4. Around 16% make use of mobile banking facilities.

While these statistics show that mobile users are becoming comfortable using their mobile phones for banking and shopping, a significant number of mobile users are still worried about security encryption of their data and the possibility of financial scams.

Actually, when services like banking and shopping went online, people raised similar concerns. It took a while for people to understand that doing things online can be much easier and safer. Look at the scenario now. People use internet banking and online shopping regularly. Similarly, I think it’s the duty of network carriers and the concerned parties that offer these facilities to address mobile users’ concerns and reassure them. Once they do, people will embrace this technology and mobile based services and facilities will become enormously popular.

Categories: All things mobile phones.

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