Macy’s is among the retailers looking to drive impulse sales by delivering mobile coupons to nearby shoppers inside a mall.  

Retailers are leveraging a digital network in 128 malls nationwide to inform shoppers of the availability of the coupons. Mobile users who download the Clip’d app can add a coupon from a retailer to the app’s mobile wallet and redeem it at checkout.  

“We designed the app because it gave us a way to extend our advertisers’ ability to interact with potential customers,” said Bill Ketcham, executive vice president and chief marketing officer of Adspace Networks, New York.

“Macy’s can put a coupon up there and make that available to their customers in the mall,” he said.

“It gives retailers a chance to talk to a fairly big segment of their customer base.”

The Clip’d app was developed by Adspace Networks, which operates a video network inside malls offering digital content from advertisers and reaching 31 million unique viewers per month.

Relevant coupons
Following a two-month pilot in four malls beginning in July, the app began rolling out to additional malls and retailers two weeks ago. The app and specific coupons are being promoted via 15-second spots on Adspace Network’s more than 1,700 high-definition screens in malls around the country.

Other retailers participating in the program include Express, Stride Rite, Crabtree & Evelyn, Aeropostale and Jos. A. Banks.

Once consumers download the app, they can select coupons from retailers and send them to their mobile “wallet.” Users only see coupons that are relevant for the mall they are in.  

When users make a purchase, they go into their Clip’d wallet on the app, pull up the coupon and show it to a store associate, who inputs the code on the coupon into the system to redeem it.

Some retailers are able to scan the bar code on the coupon instead of having to input the six-digit code.

The next time users walk into a participating mall, the app will deliver a push notification asking them if they would see the coupons that are available for that location.

Redemption rates
The initial results for the pilot are strong, showing the mall shoppers like mobile coupons.

“Of those that downloaded a coupon, the higher the value of the offer, the higher the redemption rate was,” Mr. Ketcham said. “In general, about half of the people that put a coupon in their wallet redeemed it.

“In some cases, the redemption rate went as high as 75 percent,” he said.

“If someone is going to go to the through the trouble of downloading a coupon from a retailer, the chances are that they are going to redeem it.”

Users can download the app at the Apple App Store, Google Play or by dialing **CLIPD to receive a text message with a link to the app.

The app is also being leveraged by movie studios and television production houses to show extended trailers for new films and TV shows.

One of the key advantages of the program is being able to offer coupons to shoppers who are steps from a retailer’s store.

“Retailers can give offers to someone who is literally steps from their door, so you have the potential for an impulse purchase or an impulse visit,” Mr. Ketcham said.

“The less friction there is, the better it is when it comes to retail activity,” he said.

Final Take
Chantal Tode is associate editor on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York