The supermarket chain joins other stores under The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. umbrella such as A&P, SuperFresh and Waldbaum’s in delivering mobile coupons. Zavers’ digital promotions platform powers the digital couponing for the supermarkets.

“Pathmark’s Online Advantage program allows consumers to save money and save time in an environmentally friendly way,” said Bruce Pryor, vice president of marketing at Zavers, Kansas City, KS. “Instead of having to cut, file, store, and remember paper coupons, consumers can either go online, or onto their mobile phones to find savings opportunities for the products they want.”

Pathmark is part of The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co.’s chain of supermarkets. The Company operates 435 A&P, Waldbaum’s, Pathmark, Best Cellars, Food Emporium, Super Foodmart, Super Fresh and Food Basics stores in eight states.
 
Zavers is a privately funded company with a platform aiming to link online and mobile incentive placement with in-store redemption.

Consumers can go online or to m.zavers.com on their mobile and download the coupons to their Pathmark loyalty cards. The information about the coupons is stored on the card, so the discounts are taken when swiped at purchase.

After a consumer selects the savings they wish to receive, the coupons are saved to their digital account and linked to their existing loyalty-card number.

When a consumer buys products at Pathmark and their loyalty card is swiped, the savings are automatically applied to their bill and printed on the receipt.

Mr. Pryor said the Pathmark Online Advantage program is being marketed through an integrated, multivehicle campaign.

The new service will have a presence in Pathmark’s weekly circular and emails to Advantage Club card members.

Pathmark will also have in-store signage, use the store radio and register receipt messaging to promote the new mobile coupons.

A&P, Waldbaums, Super Fresh and The Food Emporium introduced digital coupons available on mobile devices and on the Web in August (see story).

Mr. Pryor said that the Zavers platform is a valuable enhancement to retailers’ existing loyalty card and customer relationship marketing programs.

“It makes those programs and cards more valuable by offering consumers a differentiated, easy way to save in an economically-challenging time,” Mr. Pryor said. “In addition, by providing consumers value online and on their mobile phones, it allows manufacturers and retailers to effectively reach the digital generation of shoppers.

“Finally, the Zavers platform allows shoppers to discover and save coupons while they are in-store; and redeem during the same visit,” he said. “This provides product manufacturers and retailers with the opportunity to influence consumers at the point of decision.”