McDonald’s chalked up a 65 percent offer redemption rate through mobile devices during a seven-week campaign that ran this winter in Switzerland.

During the campaign, more than 27,000 mobile offers were redeemed  through the Samy mobile application across 150 corporate and franchise McDonald’s locations in the country. This effort is an example of how McDonald’s is testing a variety of tactics for leveraging mobile to drive sales and loyalty.

“Samy is our most effective tool for coupon redemption,” said Jan De Schepper, marketing director for McDonald’s Switzerland. “Samy has been a real asset for maintaining our relationships with customers when they’re away from the stores.”

New customers
The McDonald’s campaign ran between Jan. 6 and Feb. 27, 2014. It consisted of 21 different value deals across a variety of menu items.

McDonald’s used the Samy administration portal to create and manage the offers, which were delivered via the Samy app from MobileBits Corp.

The 27,000 offers redeemed during the program represented an average of 180 purchases per location and four new customers per store every day of the campaign.

Samy is a mobile marketing and engagement network for offers, deals, coupons and loyalty rewards through mobile devices. Consumers access the offers via the Samy mobile application, where they can choose which brands to receive offers from.

Consumers embrace mobile coupons
The mobile campaign was a repeat of a similar one run by McDonald’s in Switzerland during roughly the same period a year earlier.

In the earlier campaign, McDonald’s saw a 58.5 percent offer conversion rate.

The 6.5 percent increase in the conversion rate between 2013 and 2014 suggests that consumer interest in and comfort level with viewing offers as well as redeeming them via mobile is growing.

McDonald’s is testing different mobile payment and loyalty programs in the United States and elsewhere to gain insights that could be used in the development of a wider scale mobile payment offering in the future.

In the United States, McDonald’s is testing mobile coupons via the McD app, which is being piloted in several markets. The app offers consumers deals and coupons on food that franchises can then tailor around users’ preferences (see story).

In Singapore, McDonald’s is taking a different approach with mobile, enabling consumers to place delivery orders via an app as well as pay for purchases thanks to a partnership with Visa (see story).

The fast-food chain is also testing loyalty-based app Front Flip in one region of the U.S. and working with Isis on a mobile payment trial.

“Consumers prefer not to be spammed with low value offers and this feeling is greatly amplified with personal mobile devices,” said Walter Kostiuk, CEO of MobileBits, Sarasota, FL. “To be successful, QSR’s should look to provide an opt-in mobile solution that opens up a two-way digital relationship.

“Many bricks-and-mortar businesses, from those operating one store in a local community to the nationwide chain with thousands of locations, can easily capitalize on an omni-channel marketing strategy by leveraging mailers and social media to drive shoppers to their mobile store,” he said.

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