The Homa Files

Key Takeaway: Motorola is attempting to establish the new decade’s version of a customer loyalty program.

The service will allow the shopper to both receive and use coupons through his or her mobile phone.

The mobile phone will also act as a shopper ID card, eliminating the need for the shopper to carry around club cards for every retail outlet.

In addition to easing the shopping process for the consumer, this innovative system may benefit small retail outlets as well. Smaller chains that do not have the financial ability to lay down the infrastructure for their own loyalty programs will now have access to invaluable consumer information, allowing them to employ more effective product, pricing, and promotional strategies.

Will this upset the big boys, who already have strong shopper insights?

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Excerpted from Brandweek, “Motorola’s Loyalty Solution Targets Shoppers” by Noreen O’Leary, January 19, 2010

Recognizing consumers’ need to use mobile phones while shopping, Motorola launched a Mobile Loyalty Solution, which serves as an extension of existing loyalty card programs or as the basis for new digital ones.

The service, unveiled at the National Retail Federation’s annual convention in New York last week, enables retailers to send offers and incentives to customers’ mobile phones, eliminating the need for membership cards and paper coupons. At the same time, those merchants are using it to build a database of shopper product interests, purchase habits and preferences.

“With a growing number of smartphone users and the enhanced capability of their operating platforms, an era–where a constant digital connection via a mobile phone enhances the consumer’s shopping experience–has begun,” said Dana Warszona, global lead for the m-commerce portfolio, Enterprise Mobility Solutions. “From enabling consumers to easily search for product information to completing transactions, the mobile phone has become a business-critical tool that retailers must incorporate into their strategy to meet the needs of customers, now and in the future.”

Edit by JMZ

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Full Article:
http://www.brandweek.com/bw/content_display/news-and-features/shopper-marketing/e3id183d5e80b48e57c30e96d6a2b64073a

This entry was posted on February 8, 2010 at 6:10 am and is filed under Mktg - Loyalty Programs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.