Coupons are an excellent way to reach out to customers and offer them an incentive to buy. However, clipping coupons and carrying them to the store in a purse or wallet can be an inconvenience and a hassle. What are customers to do when they forget their coupons at home? There is an ever-growing solution that can be simple to execute and convenient for the customer.
Smart phones are becoming increasingly popular among shoppers. A study done by Shopper Sciences shows that 57% of shoppers looked up product information by using their smart phone. Also 47% of those same shoppers searched for coupons, 43% scanned a barcode or QR code and 39% redeemed a digital coupon all using their smart phone.
Now you might be asking what can I do to reap the benefits of this new trend while helping my customers at the same time; the answer is simple. QR codes are very popular and almost everyone that has a smart phone already has a QR reader application or can download one in minutes for free. Putting coupon signs with QR codes on them in the aisles with products on sale would allow customers to scan the coupon code and be taken to the code on their phone where they could use it at the register.
This would not only save time for your customers but it would allow you to directly reach out to everyone, not just the customers who cut out coupons. Printable coupons are still effective and you will always have a customer base that will want the paper kind, but it is time to start thinking about the new generation and their paperless ways.
*Statistics gathered from http://www.shoppersciences.com/storage/Holiday%20Shopping%20Trends%202011.pdf