Marble Slab Creamery and MaggieMoo’s rolled out a test across 16 different locations in six states – Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Alabama, Delaware, New York and Texas. The companies worked with Mercury Payment Systems on these initiatives.

“Business owners are always looking for word-of-mouth referrals from satisfied customers,” said Travis Priest, vice president of merchant marketing services at Mercury, Chicago.

“The cheapest and most impactful way to do that is through mobile and social marketing tools,” he said.

“Brands need to be where the consumers are and increasingly, their customers are tied to their cell phone and social media. Local merchants are turning their existing point-of-sale systems into marketing engines simply by capturing their customers’ phone numbers and sending them relevant messages and offers they can share with their friends.”

Marble Slab and MaggieMoo’s are franchise brands under Global Franchise Group LLC and specialize in premium ice cream.

Rewarding consumers
Using Mercury’s MercuryLoyalty solution, the brands were able to push out promotional offerings via SMS, email and social media.

For example, to promote Marble Slab Creamery’s 30th birthday on April 1, a promotion for 30 cent scoops was sent out via SMS to both brand’s loyalty members.

Transactions spiked 454 percent and net sales increased 27 percent on the day that the SMS promotion was sent for a MaggieMoo’s location in Jackson, TN.

Similarly, a MaggieMoo’s location in Henderson, TN recorded a 678 percent increase in transactions and a 108 percent growth in net sales as a result of the promotion.

Within five months of the test, the brands built a database of 32,000 consumers from all of the different stores.

Long-term value
MaggieMoo’s and Marble Slab Creamery’s use of mobile also points to an opportunity to leverage mobile for long-term loyalty.

Marble Slab Creamery tracked its loyalty members’ spending over three months and found that these consumers spent an average of $13.06 per visit, which the company claims is 50 percent higher than the average consumer spend.

MaggieMoo’s reports that its loyalty members spent 30 percent more than non-loyalty customers over three months. The average MaggieMoo’s loyalty member spent $8.44 per visit.

According to Mercury, Global Franchise Group is recommending that the technology be rolled out to all of the company’s franchise stores based on the pilot’s success. The five stores are Great American Cookies, PretzelMaker, Pretzel Time, MaggieMoo’s and Marble Slab Creamery.

“For smaller merchants, these mobile and social marketing tools creates simple ways for their customers to advocate for their business on social media,” Mr. Priest said.

“It gives businesses a way to expand their brand voice faster and cheaper than they could have with traditional media like print or radio. When everything is integrated into their POS system, it makes it easier for the merchant to monitor and manage.”

Final Take
Lauren Johnson is associate reporter on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York