Mobile Shoppers Want Coupons, Not Recipes

St. Petersburg, Fla. — “Mobile savvy” shoppers covet coupons/deals, real-time coupons and reminders of what’s on their shopping list from their mobile shopping app (in that order), according to a study recently released by Catalina, St. Petersburg, Fla. Conversely, social-network integration, a confirmation image of a receipt and a recipe planner are the least-valued functions.Catalina teamed with a third-party research firm, InsightsNow Inc., Corvallis, Ore., to launch a two-phase study that looks at what a shopper truly wants from a phone when shopping, according to Catalina’s Courtney Acuff, vice president, consumer activation, product research. “In understanding that their primary goal is to save money and to quickly and efficiently get out of the store, how is it that we can create that optimal experience?” she says. “What were the features and functionalities that we can prioritize from a development standpoint in order to deliver and prove out that value?”Phase one of the study examined 15 shoppers from around the country, utilizing surveys, the videotaping of a shopping trip and brainstorming of the ideal app of the future. The data was then used to help construct an online survey that would speak more clearly to and in the language of mobile shoppers, says Acuff.Phase two surveyed more than 1,000 people online who were qualified as “mobile-savvy shoppers,” essentially consumers who integrate smartphones into their lives for more than calling and texting. Three in 10 claimed to use a smartphone during some part of the shopping process for groceries or household goods. Acuff says the usage was a mix of basic notepad list-making on the phone to using third-party apps and mobile coupons.Other findings include that 38% of respondents said they are “extremely likely” to use digital coupons in the future, and one in four respondents said they are not aware of whether or not the store they shop has an app.The heart of the study, however, is the prioritization of 18 features and functions ranked from most valued to least valued by mobile-savvy shoppers. InsightsNow created a model to sort the features, and Acuff says Catalina is keeping the full list to itself.The study’s findings have already been integrated into the mobile solutions that Catalina will be releasing later this year. They have also shared the information with their retailer partners, she says.The company’s current mobile platform helps retailers deliver personalized offers to smartphone users, in addition to a “scan and bag” tool that enables shoppers to scan items in-store with their phones as well as use them to check out. Catalina works with Ahold stores, driving 1 million shoppers a month for the chain, says John Caron, vice president of marketing for Catalina.“The store needs to make the initial investment and drive the behavior for the consumers, but the behavior goes beyond building the app,” Caron says. “If you build the app, they won’t just magically show up. It has to be integrated into the entire shopping experience and there have to be rewards and benefits for the shopper.”

Mobile Shoppers Want Coupons, Not Recipes

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