Ohio-based bookstore Duttenhofer’s Books and New York restaurant Piada are using mobile customer loyalty cards to push in-store traffic via the Stampt application.

Both companies are among an array of merchants using Stampt’s application to drive foot traffic. The programs are currently available in San Francisco, Cincinnati, Chicago and New York and include retail, service, food and other local merchants.

“Stampt wants to provide a great way for merchants to get to know their customers and wants consumers to be rewarded for consistently shopping at certain stores,” said Brian Kelly, cofounder/CEO of Stampt, San Francisco.

“We respect local merchants with everything it takes to run a business and trying to compete with mass-market stores,” he said.

Mobile reward cards
For participating merchants, Stampt is a way to adapt with mobile consumers who use punch cards for everyday things but do not want the hassle of paper cards.

According to the company, the goal behind the app is to build a value-based program between merchants and consumers that rewards recurring customers.

“We decided to use Stampt because any little bit of reaching new customers helps,” said Kim Steinsiek, owner of Duttenhofer’s Books, Cincinnati, OH.

Sandwich shop Piada saw Stampt as a way to make consumers’ shopping experiences easier.

“We wanted to get rid of paper and help on-the-go customers who regularly shop with us,” said Giovanni Attilio, manager at Piada, New York.

To use Stampt, consumers scan an in-store display that registers their purchase after paying.

In addition to earning stamps for visits, users can also search for local merchants using Stampt with the app’s geolocator.

Consumers can also share their stamps via Twitter and Facebook and access information about the merchant, including directions and store hours.

Merchants can send out special, targeted in-app messages by using collected data from users’ previous stamps.

“People who like customer loyalty cards are frustrated because they cause clutter or customers forget them, but they always have their smartphones on them and this app lets them store all their reward cards in one place,” Mr. Kelly said.

“Stamp cards are such an important part of being a loyal customer that we don’t want our users to feel bombarded with invasive messages, such as push notifications or email,” he said.

Loyal customers
Stampt hopes to give small businesses the opportunity to target mobile consumers in ways that are typically only associated with mass-merchant retailers.

Going forward, Stampt wants to build more social features into the app, including gaming.

For example, users could challenge their friends to rack up stamps at a store and the winner would collect the others’ stamps.

“With mobile small merchants have just as much knowledge and power as big mass-market retailers, because the consumer decides how they want to use an app,” Mr. Kelly said.

“You don’t have to have big marketing campaigns to do powerful direct marketing in the industry anymore,” he said.

Final Take
Lauren Johnson is editorial assistant on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York