After a successful months-long test in 200 stores in the South, Kroger is expanding a mobile coupon program to serve all of its 2,200 grocery stores nationwide.
During a 10-week period this summer and fall, more than 50% of shoppers who joined the program redeemed more than one coupon, and the average coupon’s conversion rate was between 10% and 20%, reports Cellfire Inc., the mobile coupon company that facilitates the program for Kroger.
“There has been robust consumer adoption and use of their mobile devices to access the mobile grocery coupons,” says Dwight Moore, vice president of corporate marketing at Cellfire. “Plus, additional manufacturers continue to join the program since rolling out nationally, providing even more value to Kroger and its shoppers.”
Mobile coupons offer Kimberly-Clark two benefits, says Laura Keely, director of promotion services at the consumer brand manufacturer.
“First, they provide our brands access to a larger group of younger consumers. For example, fewer than half of consumers below the age of 35 read the Sunday newspaper, the primary channel used to disseminate traditional coupons,” Keely says. “Second, consumers can now access valuable coupons when they are away from home, ready to go shopping or when they are already in the store.”
Keely adds that Kimberly-Clark has been “very pleased” with the results of the Kroger campaign and says that a significant number of consumers redeeming coupons are under the age of 35.
To receive coupons, consumers visit Cellfire’s web site and activate their free account, select their telecommunications provider (consumers must have wireless data service to receive coupons), mobile phone manufacturer and mobile phone model, and then enter their phone number. Cellfire then sends users a text message with a link to download the company’s coupon application onto their mobile phone. For some phone models, a consumer accesses Cellfire’s mobile web site instead of downloading the application.
Once the account is activated, consumers can browse through the application or mobile web site to view coupons from numerous businesses, including Kroger. A one-time set-up allows the user to link a Cellfire account with a Kroger Plus Card account. Kroger Plus is the supermarket’s loyalty program. Coupons selected from within the Cellfire application are downloaded into the Kroger Plus account and automatically redeemed at checkout. Once a coupon is used or expired, it automatically is deleted from the consumer’s Cellfire and Kroger Plus accounts.
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