JC Penney isn’t exactly ahead of the times in regard to mobile marketing, but they are playing catch-up. Their mobile couponing pilot project, with adequate planning, should see huge results. Their target demographic is 25-35 year old women. As we all know, women always have two things with them: their cell phone and their purse. Mobile couponing allows women to lose the purse and keep their coupons in their mobile device.

The concept of mobile couponing has been successful to several retailers in the grocery and fast-food industries and now other retailers are saying, “Hey, that might work for us.”

Mobile couponing is a sign of the times. Gone are the days of clipping coupons. Well, almost. We are moving more into a digital age where print will be replaced by digital media. No more paper, and what’s amazing is the coupons can be delivered based on physical location. Multiple sources have shown that redemption rates for mobile coupons are higher than paper coupons.

This form of marketing also has its constraints. Consumers are always concerned about privacy and giving out their phone number might as well be an invitation to spam it with unwanted messages. Usage of an app for smart phones such as the iPhone or Blackberry will provide more security to the user than using SMS.

Overall, coupon marketing has it’s potential flaws, but it can be and has already proven to be a successful way to gain loyal customers and earn more business.

References:

Shaffer, S. (2005, June 25). Mobile Coupons Not Just A Fad. Retrieved March 7, 2010, from http://theponderingprimate.blogspot.com/2005/06/mobile-coupons-not-just-fad.html

Dilworth, D. (2009, September 25). JCPenney takes coupons mobile. Retrieved March 7, 2010, from http://www.dmnews.com/jcpenney-takes-coupons-mobile/article/149790/

Wilcox, H. (2009, December 8). Press Release: Mobile Coupon usage to triple exceeding 300 million people globally by 2014 say Juniper Research. Retrieved March 7, 2010, from http://juniperresearch.com/shop/viewpressrelease.php?pr=169