Coupons by mobile phone service Cellfire goes nationwide for Cingular users today, with support for other carriers said to be on the way in the future. Oliver over at MobileCrunch reviews Cellfire and points out that tests in California saw coupons redeemed at a rate of almost 20%, with some surpassing that mark. That’s pretty incredible compared to paper coupon redemption rates.
The number of participating merchants is small right now (7 total, including Hollywood video) but with a success rate like that you know more companies are going to be interested. Will consumers want to download software to their phones, check for coupons at large retailers and hold up their phone displays in front of check out staff for a discount? The company says that dedicated software is perceived as far less intrusive than SMS messages and that makes sense.
I’d say it could work, but it looks like it already has in early tests. Will the rest of the world go as California goes? Will people continue to use the software after the novelty runs out? We shall see. I have a hard time getting excited about coupons on my phone, to be honest, but it seems that other people don’t. I imagine this will be common practice in the near future.
As a consumer/shopper, I think this is a great idea! I never remember to take coupons with me when I go shopping, but somehow I never forget my cell phone. And who doens’t like discounts?
Coupons and ticketing appear to be a “killer ap” for cell phones, especially when consumers become more willing to turn on the GPS in their phones. Cellfire is also not the only service like this to come on to the market. In the UK , a mobile ticketing service Mobiqa.com has been around since at least March of last year. Their service distributes tickets via a scanable barcode sent to your cell phone. Over the past year, they have been building distribution partnerships and reported some success in having Mobiqa ticket only events. Kudos to Cellfire for the cingular deal. I think the winners in this sector are going to be the firms with the widest distribution networks and best product partnerships. However, I’m sure we’re going to see things heat up when the established ticketing firms take notice of the value added by mobile ticketing and couponing.
Hmm…i had a prototype model built 3 years ago for this….maybe it’s time tio dust it off…enahnce it a llittle bit..and shop it around..
Marshall, thanks for taking a look at Cellfire. The program is growing, as we have more retailers coming on board shortly. Bath and Body Works will be available in just a couple weeks with more to follow, so keep checking back!
This is pretty neat. I’m always open to marketing if it’s properly targeted and delivered, and this seems to fit just that ticket.
Can’t wait for it to show up in Oregon.
Could be a great sales lead generator, but my first concern would be the ability to present forgery “coupons”. If all you have to do is show your phone to a clerk, it would be pretty simple for crooks to put together similar graphics and rip off a store.
Love the concept, though!
do you want to give your mobile phone numbers to junk marketing? Good luck !
There has been a lot of concern in the past of moble marketing companies using your phone number for ‘junk marketing.’ I have been using Cellfire in the Bay Area for months now, and have never had one unwanted spam from Cellfire or a third party. They have a clear privacy policy, and from my personal experience, have kept their word. I love it!
This concept has been available in Europe and Asia for years. We have a ridiculously slow cell phone industry.
Keep an eye out for http://www.mobile.la (currently under development).
The same idea was put forward by students in Singapore in a university. Unfortunately the professors turned it down as they thought it had limited potential. This is as good as a slap on their face.
Hi,
what about http://evreward.com/?
This is not a bad idea but I don’t use coupon for anything really. I have a friend who paid with (2 for 1 dinner) coupon for his first date. (nice!)
It will all depends on how easy the process is. Getting and using the coupon has to be really easy and fast or else ….
Good luck to them.
Sounds like a good idea if it’s easy to use and if they get other carriers signed on.
The Light Agency inthe UK have been running a barcode led service with a major retailer. Their patented system allows the scanning of a barcode on a mobile phone using the exisiting EPOS system. This one barcode holds all the members available offers. Very interesting. Have a look at the website for more details.
moblee, which has been running in the UK for a few months, has just become available in the US. It allows local businesses to send offers by text message to subscribed consumers/shoppers.
The service is free to subscribe to and matches offers from businesses to subscribers based on their locality and interests. Advertisers can only make offers through the system so no spam messages can be created.
For businesses, it offers an immediate way to reach local, interested consumers very cost-effectively.
Consumers simply get relevant, local offers straight to their phone.
I like the business model behind Moblee. Of course, there is much more potential in this area yet to be realized.