Juniper Research’s new report, “Mobile Coupons & NFC Smart Posters: Strategies, Applications & Forecasts 2009-2014” found that user apathy and a lack of willingness to change and learn new technology are potential road blocks in the mobile industry. However, the research firm said that NFC trial results show high levels of user acceptance.

“We believe that mobile coupons are going to play a significant role in the future in terms of mobile marketing because they offer marketers the opportunity to market to individuals,” said Howard Wilcox, the report’s lead author and senior analyst at Juniper Research, Hampshire, England.

“Mobile is the ultimate marketing channel,” he said. “This means opportunities for brands and merchants to achieve much higher coupon redemption rates than paper coupons, everybody gets everything they want.”

Juniper Research is a worldwide research and analytical service provider.

The report also predicts that smart posters with embedded NFC tags may engage consumers more than using NFC tags at checkout.

NFC-enabled posters can be used to bring billboards to life and create immediate interaction between potential customers and their future purchases.

By simply passing their mobile device close to the tag, consumers would be able to take away a coupon or product information that may help aide in influencing future purchasing decisions.
 
According to the report, the average revenue per user from NFC coupons and smart posters will exceed the average revenue from NFC payment transactions.

Mr. Wilcox said that the vast majority of mobile coupon redemption will be generated in Eastern Asia, citing Japan’s prevalent use of quick-response codes and mobile coupons.

North America and Western Europe are also predicted to have high redemption rates.

“If merchants can integrate mobile coupons into existing checkouts, that would help consumer take-up,” Mr. Wilcox said. “Essentially mobile coupons need to be seen as part of a normal checkout process, not a special action they have to take.”

The benefit of coupons
Mr. Wilcox also said that NFC payments, using the mobile device as a wallet, would help consumers become more comfortable with technology.

Besides the environmental benefits of going paperless with coupons, Mr. Wilcox said that merchants can also get a better view of their customer by tracking consumers’ loyalty and their purchases to build an accurate picture of the consumer’s behavior.

“With mobile coupons, consumers can fine tune what types of coupons they get from brands and retailers and from that point of view redemption rates are going to be a lot higher,” Mr. Wilcox said. “We’re forecasting something like one in 10 mobile users are going to redeem mobile coupons.”