Target: Cartwheel takes novel approach to mobile couponing

This blog is based in part on Retail Food Marketing Trends in the U.S.: Technology, Mobile, and Social Media. Purchase the report by December 31 and receive a 5% discount using promo code PFFOODRETAIL.

Discount chain Target is also a mobile couponing innovator. Target offers a unique mobile app called Cartwheel, in which consumers choose from hundreds of offers with discounts of 5-50% off every area of the store. When a customer sees an offer they like, they add it to the Cartwheel list, scan the barcode in the store, and then present the barcode to the cashier. The consumer then automatically receives savings on the entire Cartwheel list.

Consumers get 10 empty offer spots just for joining Cartwheel. Additional spots are earned by unlocking Cartwheel badges. Badges help consumers unlock more available spots on the Cartwheel list: for each badge they earn, they get one more spot to fill with savings. And if a consumer is signed up via Facebook, they can earn even more slots. Consumers can save on the entire Cartwheel list up to 6 times per day. Moreover, what is purchased at Target is then shared on the customer’s Facebook account (unless the user enables a privacy setting that prohibits doing so). Customers can even use Cartwheel offers on top of other coupons, sales and debit or credit REDcard loyalty savings.

This is a fascinating way to incent shoppers to check on what is basically a mobile coupon-generator with a touch of social. In the process, it has brought old-school coupon-clipping into the modern world with an easy-to-use app.

-- By David Morris