Mobile Coupon Solution Enables One Retailer to Double Conversions

Mobile app usage is on the rise. According to comScore study, 66% of time spent with online retail occurs on mobile devices. That’s an increase of 14% from the prior year. Another study by Burst Media and Rhythm NewMedia found that slightly more than three-quarters of respondents (77%) who reported receiving in-store push notifications for promotions read the alerts immediately and 67% redeemed the offer while in-store.

CodeBroker, a mobile coupon app developer, has conducted its own research, which supports industry statistics. Based on recent CodeBroker research, in-app mobile coupons increase app engagement – CodeBroker has seen 30% of consumers (with no notification) regularly view the mobile coupon from within the retailer’s app.

Mobile Coupon Experience 

One retailer in particular, after successfully launching a mobile app, wanted to refocus its efforts from incenting app downloads to increasing direct channel revenue – conversions that happen within the mobile app – the number of customers who buy versus the number of active app users. The retailer surveyed a panel comprised of 1,000 of their most engaged customers – customers who made eight or more purchases within a single year. One of the key findings of the survey was that the number one reason customers download the retailer’s mobile app is to have access to the latest deals and offers.

With the goals of increasing direct channel revenue and improving conversion rate, the retailer decided to deliver store-wide/generic offers for use either online or in-store or online-only to their mobile app. In addition, the retailer wanted to take advantage of CodeBroker’s unique ability to deliver one-time-use mobile coupons.

The marketing team decided to push new offers to the app every other week. The bi-weekly cadence was intended to inspire customers to check-in to the mobile app regularly. Using CodeBroker’s Coupon Center, the retailer was able to easily integrate a digital coupon wallet into their existing mobile app, giving their customers ready access to all of their deals and offers in a single, convenient location.

CodeBroker Benefits

A primary benefit of implementing CodeBroker’s digital coupon wallet into a retailer’s mobile app is the ability to streamline the purchase process. By simplifying how customers buy within the mobile app, the retailer can create a unique and compelling customer experience designed to increase in-app conversions. When customers view their offers from within the digital coupon wallet, a CodeBroker Smart Link labeled “Apply Discount” is added to each mobile offer.

The Smart Link provides the ability to track customer and discount information dynamically. The discount information is carried forward – from viewing the coupon to the product detail/category page to the online shopping cart. The discount amount is automatically applied during check-out. After the purchase, the coupon is updated with the term “Redeemed” informing the customer that the offer is no longer valid.

Delivering dynamic mobile coupons supports a variety of capabilities designed to improve the customer experience, such as marking the offer as redeemed once it has been used (ensuring the offer is not presented a second time). When a customer adds an item to the online shopping cart, the coupon code is automatically applied and the discount amount is displayed in the online shopping cart.

Results

Following implementation, the results for the retailer were positive. It realized a significant up-tick in direct channel revenue and conversion rate. e-commerce conversions increased 24% (from 1.23 to 1.53) each of the first eight weeks following implementation. The conversion rate was improved by delivering offers that can only be redeemed from within the mobile app. Using push notifications to drive urgency (“only three days left before your online only offer expires”), the conversion rate increased from 2.7% to 4.6% (the industry average online conversion rate for 2014 Q4 was 2.84%, with the top performers seeing conversion rates of 6.44%). On top of those improvements, in-store mobile coupon redemptions nearly doubled to 8%.

Now the retailer is able to track the entire path-to-purchase – when the mobile offer was received, viewed and redeemed by the customer. A comprehensive picture of each campaign gives its marketing team an opportunity to drive direct channel revenue and continue to improve conversion rates.

For more information on the CodeBroker app, click here.

By Alex Brown

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