PÚCA NEWS

Shopping mecca uses TxtLink mobile coupons

An award-winning mobile marketing system developed by Puca Technologies is proving a major hit with shoppers at China’s largest shopping complex, Super Brand Mall in Shanghai.

The backbone of the system is a free-standing coupon-dispensing unit called the TxtLink Kiosk. A multimedia terminal linked to a mobile marketing platform, the kiosk provides shoppers with an interactive store guide, a wide selection of information and services as well as mobile money-off coupons redeemable in more than a dozen outlets within Super Brand Mall. The kiosk brings money-saving offers to shoppers, as well as eye-catching advertising and sales opportunities to the Mall’s tenants.

The kiosks, which are being trialled for three months, are located at the entrances to the Super Brand Mall, which is visited by up to 400,000 people a day.

In the first two months of operation the kiosks have received almost half-a-million visits, according to Stephane Vidaillet, general manager of Puca China.

"There are currently eight kiosks but depending on the results of the pilot we’re hoping to increase the numbers significantly," he said.

Vidaillet added that Puca eventually hoped to sign up all of the mall’s 150 tenants to the system.

Using the kiosk, customers register to become a member of the Super Brand Club, giving their preferences regarding the type of product categories they are interested in. They are then sent money-off coupons in electronic form to their mobile phones. The kiosk recognises the code on the mobile phone’s display and prints out a coupon that can be used at the check-out.

Commenting on the potential of mobile marketing, Puca founder and CEO Eamon Hession, said the mobile phone had revolutionised communications in recent years and was changing the way retailers interacted with their customers. "Mobile phone-based loyalty programmes offer retailers a very fast, cost-effective and personal channel to communicate with willing customers. The current generation of mobile users has fully embraced SMS messaging as an everyday communications tool. Mobile therefore provides a logical step forward for retailers wishing to communicate directly with their customers in an effort to strengthen relationships and improve customer loyalty."

Kesrin Ariyapongse, vice-president of marketing at Super Brand Mall, said the kiosk system is providing the retailer with new ways of reaching the Chinese consumer. "Instead of sending our customers direct mail we are using the system to send them text messages and coupons, which can be very personalised and cost effective at the same time. The kiosks are giving us a whole new way to communicate with our customers almost in real time."

TxtLink Kiosk received a ‘Top Innovator’ award at the ChinICT conference last May.

Want to find out more? Just email sales@puca.com