By Aimee Chanthadavong
A smartphone application that is allowing retailers to instantly notify customers about special offers and drive traffic into their stores is now available in Australia.
Initially launched in the US less than 12 months ago, MobiQpons is a GPS-based, real-time app that allows retailers to communicate to their customers about exciting new deals, new season launches or special promotions of the day.
Speaking to Retalbiz, the managing director (who has asked not to be named) of MobiQpons Australia and New Zealand said the MobiQpons app operates on two levels.
“Customers can mark their stores in their favourites and can be advised if that store has any offers or if they are within certain proximity of any store they will also be advised of any specials,” he said
“This means, customers have full control of what they want and don’t want to receive, making it a non-intrusive app to use.”
According to the managing director, in the US, retailers such as Walmart and Target are using the app.
“This gives them a different medium to magazines and newspapers as they can have their notifications live within two minutes. For instance, a sandwich bar might have a lot of sandwiches leftover at the end of the day and within a few minutes they can drive traffic through MobiQpons and there’s no other medium like this out there,” he said.
Currently, only available to the iPhone, Blackberry and Android, MobiQpons has been designed to be also accessible through any internet browser.
“Smartphones are growing to be more sophisticated. However, Australia is lagging behind the US in using apps, not only from a consumer perspective but from a commercial perspective too. But once they realise how easy it is to use coupled with the benefits that are provided, then there’s no reason for them not to use it,” the managing director said.
MobiQpons is also being made available in Singapore.