Paper Coupons are a Thing of the Past

This post on retailwire highlights how J.C. Penney is rolling out a mobile coupon campaign in Houston in which consumers are allowed to download discounts to their cell phones, and then it can be scanned by a special reader at checkout. Is this the direction that coupons are headed in?

Mike Boylson, CMO for J.C. Penney mentioned:

"We've always made it easy for our customers to save money. These mobile coupons are the ultimate in customer convenience, because there's no need to clip or carry around a printed coupon, and they can be instantly scanned from a cell phone. It's another way we're innovating to enhance the customer's shopping experience."

J.C. Penney will try to rollout this digital coupon campaign to over 1,100 stores nationwide wide if it is successful. A NY Times report also noted that digital coupon usage is up 25% in the first half of this year versus last year. We should definitely be on the lookout for more and more companies adopting this in the future.

Could An Application Suite Be The Solution for UK Multichannel Retailing?

Multichannel Retail: Using Integrated Technology to Achieve Cross-Channel Brand Consistency

Focus on the customer experience has become a top priority for retailers. Maintaining consistent customer service levels is made all the more complex as consumers are now shopping across many channels. Whether the customer shops through a bricks and mortar store, a transactional website or by mail order, the consumer expects consistent service.

The retail sector has evolved from a store only business to one that sells through multiple channels. With customer experience being a top priority for retailers in a recession, it is important that multichannel retailers provide a consistent service, no matter the channel. In this report, Datamonitor’s analyst specializing in retail technology will discuss the developments in multichannel retail and will identify the key vendors with end-to-end multichannel offerings.

This report is essential reading for those looking to gain insight into multichannel retailing in the UK and the technology. You can gain insight into the different technology providers offering end-to-end multichannel technology to the UK retail sector.

Learn about the leading multichannel retailers and their technology strategies with this report.

The IKEA Shopper Experience

Tim Manners from the Hub Magazine recently sat down and interviewed Bill Agee, the marketing director of IKEA U.S., in which Bill described IKEA’s key to success. An interesting concept that I took from the pdf of the interview is that the “IKEA shopper” does not just reflect a certain segment, but a very broad audience. Young families and people moving out for the first time though are segments that will always come to IKEA more easily than others. IKEA also gets its insights from shoppers by conducting proprietary research, asking questions related to the in-store experience and the home experience (living with the product.)

Take a few minutes to browse the interview as I am sure you will find it informative. Enjoy!

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