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What Are Location-Based Mobile Coupons?
Updated 8 min read
Location-based mobile coupons are a targeted marketing strategy that retailers and businesses use to provide discounts and promotions based on a user’s geographic location. These tailored digital coupons are typically distributed to consumers via mobile apps.
They capitalize on the proximity of potential customers to a store or specific geographic area. As customers move closer to the point of sale or within a designated region, they receive notifications for exclusive deals or offers, encouraging immediate or future visits to the retailer’s physical location.
Key Takeaways
- Location-based coupons provide discounts and promotions to consumers based on their geographic location, typically through mobile apps.
- Coupons are triggered by geo-targeting technologies integrated into the customer’s mobile device when they enter a predefined area, offering real-time and highly relevant deals.
- Businesses use these coupons to attract customers already in the vicinity and create a sense of urgency, encouraging immediate or future visits to their physical location. These coupons allow businesses to offer personalization, increase sales, foster customer loyalty, and gather insights into consumer behavior for future marketing strategies.
- For consumers, these coupons offer benefits such as cost savings, an enhanced shopping experience, convenience, relevance, and access to real-time deals.
- Privacy concerns associated with these coupons can be mitigated by obtaining consent from users before accessing location data and by maintaining transparency about how the data is used.
The Tech behind Location-Based Mobile Coupons
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Note: Geo-targeted coupons use GPS and other location-sensing features of modern smartphones. Retailers can pinpoint the position of their customers and deliver time-sensitive coupons to create a sense of urgency. This method serves to attract customers who are already in the vicinity, increasing the likelihood of the coupons being redeemed.
These mobile coupons use location-based services (LBS) technology to trigger the delivery of deals or discounts when a customer’s mobile device enters a designated area. It’s an innovative form of location-based marketing that provides benefits to both businesses and consumers.
For instance, a coffee chain may push geo-targeted coupons to mobile users in a city where they’re testing a new dessert. As another example, a retail store may offer location-based deals to customers who are in or near their physical store.
The Purpose of Geo-Targeted Coupons
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Tip: Through location-based discounts, retailers are able to offer more personalized experiences. This increases sales and fosters customer loyalty. The effectiveness of these coupons in generating store traffic has been tried across many competitive markets, with insights suggesting significant profit gains when mobile discounts are offered during off-peak periods.
Businesses also gain valuable insights into consumer behavior patterns, which can be further used to optimize marketing campaigns and customer service strategies. This highly targeted method of marketing caters to the consumers’ growing demand for personalization. Geo-targeting enables businesses to pinpoint their marketing efforts, saving resources while boosting customer engagement levels.
Exploring The Impact of Location-Based Discounts
By leveraging location-based deals, businesses can distribute discounts, sales, or promotions to potential customers within a specific geographical area. This strategy not only rewards loyal customers but also entices new customers.
The availability of location-based mobile coupons is time-sensitive, which creates a sense of urgency among consumers. A customer may receive a notification about a discount on their favorite brand while they’re shopping at a mall. The immediate availability and relevance of the deal, in turn, encourage impulse purchases, driving up sales for businesses.
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Tip: The real-time nature of these discounts helps businesses address operational challenges while also catering to the customers’ interests. It creates a win-win situation where businesses optimize their operations, and customers get the benefit of reduced prices.
Benefits of Location-Based Mobile Coupons
Let’s explore a few advantages of this innovative marketing strategy:
📲 Advantages for Consumers
- Cost savingsare the most obvious advantage of location-based coupons. These discounts allow customers to save money on their purchases. A survey we conducted about coupons statistics revealed that shoppers typically expect to save between 10% and 30% on their shopping carts when using a coupon.
- Enhanced shopping experience: receiving a coupon when near or in a store adds an element of surprise and enjoyment to the shopping experience. This can make shopping more rewarding.
- Convenience: since these coupons are delivered directly to customers’ mobile devices, it eliminates the need to carry around paper coupons. Customers can simply present the digital coupon at checkout.
- Relevance: location-based deals tend to be more relevant to the consumer. If a customer is near a coffee shop, for instance, receiving a discount for a coffee is far more applicable than a discount for an online electronics store.
- Real-time deals: geo-targeted discounts allow customers to take immediate advantage of offers. This is particularly useful during limited-time sales or special promotions.
🏢 Advantages for Businesses
- Increased foot traffic: one of the major benefits of location-based deals is their ability to drive foot traffic to physical stores. When customers receive coupons based on their proximity to a store, they are more likely to visit and redeem their discount.
- Personalized marketing: geo-targeted coupons enable businesses to provide personalized offers to customers. This level of personalization attracts new customers and helps retain existing ones, fostering loyalty and repeat business.
- Real-time engagement: location-based mobile coupons can create real-time interaction with customers. When customers are in a particular location or within the vicinity of a store, they can receive instant coupons, creating an immediate connection between the customer and the business.
- Increased sales: relevant and timely coupons encourage impulse buying, which can lead to an increase in sales. A customer who receives a coupon when they’re near or in a store is more likely to make a purchase.
- Improved analytics: businesses can gather valuable data about customer behavior and preferences based on the redemption of location-based discounts. This data can be used to refine marketing strategies and make more informed business decisions.
Types of Location-Based Mobile Coupons
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Note: The technology for geo-targeted promotional tools is used to attract consumers to specific locations and encourage purchases based on their proximity. Let’s explore a few ways in which it is used:
Proximity-Based Coupons
Proximity-based coupons are pushed to consumers when their mobile devices are within a certain radius of a specific geolocation, typically a store or restaurant. Businesses set up a virtual geographic boundary, known as a geofence, around their location. When consumers cross this boundary, they receive a notification on their mobile devices with the coupon.
Time-Sensitive Coupons
Time-sensitive coupons combine the power of location-based services and the urgency factor. These coupons are not only targeted based on the user’s location but also have an expiration time attached to them. For instance, a restaurant might offer a special lunch discount, valid only for the next two hours, to customers near their location.
Beacon-Based Coupons
Beacon-based coupons use Bluetooth technology to send promotions to customers’ mobile devices when they are in or near a store. Beacons are small devices installed in stores that detect when a customer with a relevant mobile app enters their range. They can even pinpoint specific sections within a store, making these coupons highly targeted and relevant.
Personalized Coupons
As businesses harness the power of big data and machine learning, they can now offer personalized coupons based on customers’ shopping habits and preferences. These coupons are pushed to customers when they’re in the vicinity of a store that sells products aligned with their preferences.
Event-Triggered Coupons
Event-triggered coupons are sent out when a specific event occurs. For example, when a customer who frequents a particular coffee shop is nearby, they might receive a coupon for their favorite drink. This type of coupon leverages customer behavior data and location-based technology.
Social Media Location-Based Coupons
Businesses often use social media platforms to reward users who check in or tag their store’s location. Users may receive a coupon for a discount or special promotion in return for their engagement. This strategy provides a direct reward to customers and increases the business’s online visibility.
Location-Based Mobile Coupons FAQs
What Are Location-Based Deals?
Geo-targeted coupons are digital discounts or promotional deals delivered to consumers’ smartphones based on their geographical location. They work with location-based services (LBS) technology, triggering the delivery of special offers when a customer’s mobile device enters a designated geofenced area.
How Do Location-Based Mobile Coupons Work?
These coupons are pushed to users’ smartphones when they cross a specific geographical boundary set by a business. For users to receive these location-based coupons, they need to enable location services on their smartphones and often need to have a specific app installed.
How Can I Receive Location-Based Discounts?
You generally need to install a specific app on your smartphone. This app could be a retailer’s app, a coupon app, or a loyalty app. You also need to have location services enabled on your mobile device.
Do Location-Based Coupons Invade My Privacy?
While it’s true that location-based mobile coupons need access to your location data, reputable businesses and apps will always ask for your consent before accessing any data. You should study the terms and conditions of the mobile app, including the privacy policy, before granting such permissions.
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