Diapers.com is aiming to entice parents of newborns to become paying customers of the brand’s baby care services by partnering with the Lyft mobile application to offer families a $50 credit towards their baby’s first ride home from a Manhattan hospital.

The brand is helping mothers in the Manhattan area bring their new baby home in the least challenging way possible, prompting it to team up with the Lyft app through Jan. 31, 2015 for the “Baby’s First Ride Home” program. It will also provide a year’s worth of free diapers to the first baby born in 2015 in New York City.

“At Diapers.com, we’re all about delivering delightful experiences, products and expertise at the moment that our customers need them,” said Maria Renz, CEO at Quidsi, the parent company of Diapers.com. “Many New York parents don’t own cars and we saw an opportunity to make life a bit simpler on Day 1 with their new baby.

“By demonstrating to New York City parents that Diapers.com is a trusted resource from the very start, we hope that they will rely on us for our year-round free overnight shipping of baby care necessities to NYC.”

Raising brand awareness
The “Baby’s First Ride Home Program” offers an optimal opportunity for the brand to raise awareness for its overnight delivery service of baby products and target its exact preferred audience of consumers. While only one child will receive the year of free diapers, valued at $599, all newborns born at Manhattan hospitals are eligible to receive $50 credit to the ride-sharing Lyft app.

Parents of newborns that are interested in participating in the program during the month of January can call the Diapers.com customer care team at 1-800-DIAPERS, which operates 24 hours a day, on their day of discharge from the hospital. They will then receive the $50 Lyft credit via email to use toward the family’s first ride home.

To book a ride, consumers must download the Lyft app, register for an account, input their location and enter their promotional code in the Payments section.

Proud parents seeking to document their baby’s first trip home can upload photographs onto Twitter, Facebook and Instagram using the #firstridehome hashtag.

The brand is also seeking to gain more customers by offering new consumers $10 off their first case of diapers, while all customers can enjoy $5 off diaper cases through March 2015 by entering the code GIMMEFIVE at checkout.

Lyft gaining popularity
The Lyft app is gaining traction among other ridesharing taxi apps, such as Uber and Sidecar. The service recently teamed up with organization Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) to offer New Year’s Eve partygoers a safe way to get home.

Any customer that needs a ride due to having consumed too many drinks or simply feels uncomfortable driving or parking on a night with such heavy traffic can use the smartphone app, available for Android and iOS devices, to request a driver. This capability means that guests have no excuse to drink and drive.

For each individual that pledges not to drink and drive on New Year’s Eve, Lyft will donate $1 to the MADD organization.

The popularity of such ridesharing apps make them ideal partners for cross-marketing opportunities.

“Mobile is a critical tool for communicating with Diapers.com customers, most of whom no longer have the time to sit in front of a computer,” Ms. Renz said. “Our typical customer has her baby in one hand and a phone in the other, so we’ve focused on offering a one-handed shopping experience that’s designed for the multitasking parent.

“Our mobile app allows our customers to shop for their baby care essentials whenever and wherever—whether it’s during a 3 a.m. feeding or while waiting at the pediatrician’s office.”

Final Take
Alex Samuely is an editorial assistant on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York