Deliver Coupons to Shoppers In-Store Using Tablets

by Ryan Taft in Mobile Marketing

Business is changing. Brick-and-mortar storefronts are evolving. Innovative companies realize if they do not focus on reshaping the customer experience in their stores that they will continue to lose sales to online behemoths like Amazon and Ebay. The result? Companies are using technology to create “digital storefronts” to take advantage of the latest marketing software and hardware platforms to change how shoppers interact with products while in-store. By creating unique shopping experiences through the use of technology, innovative companies are giving shoppers a reason to come back to their brick-and-mortar storefronts. One in-store marketing tactic that is rising to the top of many marketing plans is the use of tablets in-store to deliver coupons to shoppers in-real time through email and smart phone technologies.

Traditional Brick-and-Mortar Stores Transforming Into Digital Storefronts

From interactive product displays that allow shoppers to check a store’s inventory in real-time to combining the use of tablets, email marketing, and smart phones to deliver coupons to shoppers while in-store, companies are reinventing their traditional brick-and-mortar storefronts into digital storefronts. Sport Check, a franchise brand under the umbrella of FGL Sports Ltd. which is Canada’s largest national retailer of sporting goods, recently opened an 80,000 square foot location in West Edmonton Mall. Their new digital storefront “provides consumers with access to world leading digital technology, an unparalleled array of leading brands and products, and a personalized shopping experience that connects consumers to the sports they are passionate about. ‘Our new flagship store in West Edmonton Mall is the most digitally advanced and personalized retail experience in the world,’ said Michael Medline, President of Canadian Tire Corporation. ‘We have created an energy filled experience for anyone who is passionate about a great customer experience and shopping for an unparalleled array of sporting goods.'”

This forward-thinking organization realizes that through the use of technology they can reshape the shopper experience, encouraging those shoppers to visit the store for their sporting goods needs instead of ordering that new pair of ice skates or hockey stick online.

Using Tablets In-Store for Marketing to Shoppers

There are many different products on the market today that can be leveraged by innovative companies like FGL Sports Ltd. Many of these products can be used in conjunction with one another to create remarkable in-store experiences for shoppers. Tablets, like the iPad, are gaining a lot of traction as a marketing tool for businesses. Here are a few ways companies are using tablets in-store for marketing to shoppers:

as a digital display for advertisements, next to a specific product or group of products
to capture shopper data while purchasing decisions are being made
as a photo capture and photo sharing device
as a video display of ads or product information videos
to convert shoppers into social media connections
as an inventory search that doesn’t require assistance from sales personnel
for interactive games and contests
to deliver coupons to shoppers via an email to the shopper’s smart phone

Deliver Coupons to Shoppers In-Store with Tablets

“Retail brands have the opportunity to impress and engage their savvy shoppers in new ways. People want to feel that the retailer understands them, and customization is a way to accomplish that. Shoppers want stores to provide experiences tailored just for them; 85% say they’d be more likely to shop in places that offer personalized coupons and exclusive offers in-store.” – Google, Ipsos MediaCT and Sterling Brands research study from March to May 2014

Digital bridges the divide between consumers and stores

Combining tablets, OnSpot Social, email, wifi, and smart phone technology companies can deliver coupons to shoppers in real-time while they are in-store making purchasing decisions. Now, it might sound complicated having to combine all of these technologies in order to deliver coupons to shoppers in-store, but it’s actually quite simple if you pick the right software. It can be broken down into three simple steps:

Develop a coupon email that you want to send customers
Run OnSpot Social on an iPad in your store to collect shopper email addresses
Shopper receives the coupon email on her smart phone seconds after entering her email address into OnSpot Social

Having the ability to deliver coupons to shoppers while they are in your store offers significant benefits to your business. The biggest benefit is an increase in coupon redemption rate versus coupons that have to be printed from a computer, or clipped from a publication at home, and then brought into the store.

Increase Coupon Redemption Rates

deliver coupons to shoppers Consumers these days are used to having things delivered to them, and if delivery is not available, the task has to be easy for consumers to follow through. Having to print or clip a coupon at home and then remember to bring it with you to the store is too much work for today’s shopper. We live in a tech savvy world and shoppers expect their favorite stores to interact with them through the same technologies that they are used to using in their everyday lives. A large majority of today’s consumers have a smart phone, own or have used a tablet, use email and have it accessible 24-7 via their smart phone.

By strategically placing tablets throughout your store, or even next to products that you are offering coupons for, you entice shoppers to provide you with their email address in exchange for a coupon that they can use right then and there on their purchase. A coupon that gets delivered to a shopper’s mobile phone is easier to redeem then a traditional paper coupon that puts all of the onus on the consumer to bring it with her, and then remember to use it at checkout.

Target Currently Using Email and Mobile Technology to Deliver Shopper Coupons

There are a number of companies, large and small, that are currently leveraging email and mobile technology to deliver coupons to shoppers in-store. Your company can benefit from instituting a similar strategy for your business. If it’s working for Target, it can work for your organization as well.