APPLICATION BRIEF
MOBILE BARCODES: RETAIL
Cashing in on the mobile barcode revolution
RETAIL MOBILE BARCODES — A MORE PERSONAL CUSTOMER CONNECTION WITH A BIG PAYOFF
Over seven and a half billion mobile phones are in service around the world.
1
With more mobile subscriptions than
people on the planet today, the mobile phone is the one device that virtually all your customers of all ages carry,
all of the time. Your customers are always looking for new ways that this little device can make their lives easier.
And one of the many technologies they are embracing is the mobile barcode.
What is a mobile barcode?
A mobile barcode is an electronic barcode that can be stored on a mobile phone. Retailers of all sizes can use mobile barcodes to
create innovative marketing programs that benefit customers and the business. Mobile barcodes can be used to create virtual loyalty
cards, gift cards and coupons that shoppers can carry right in their mobile phones — no more plastic credit-card style cards and paper
coupons to manage. And since today’s shopper is already looking for ways to use their mobile phone to simplify their life, many will opt-in
to marketing programs that allow you to send oers right to their mobile phones, establishing a powerful direct-to-customer channel for
highly targeted promotional campaigns that are extraordinarily cost-eective — with extraordinary redemption rates.
Customer-driven adoption of the mobile barcode — a new challenge for today’s retailers
Mobile barcodes provide a challenge that is unlike any other marketing initiative. Your customers can actually embrace mobile barcode
technology before you do. As a result, while you may not have launched mobile barcode-based marketing programs, your customers
may still present mobile barcodes on their mobile phones at your POS.
For example, you might only oer physical loyalty cards today, but available mobile phone applications allow your customers to create
a mobile barcoded version of your physical loyalty card. When your customer presents the mobile barcode on the display of their mobile
phone at your register, if your POS technology cannot scan the mobile barcode, your customers experience a loss of convenience — and
you may lose that customer to a competitor who can.
APPLICATION BRIEF
MOBILE BARCODES: RETAIL
2
Customer and
retailer-driven mobile
barcode applications
How can you fully leverage mobile barcodes in
your retail operation? And what applications can
your customers adopt before you do? Following
is a description of the key applications that have
been launched with great success by retailers
around the world — including applications that
can be driven by your customers.
Mobile coupon programs
Mobile coupons provide your customers with real
value — a discount without the hassle of locating,
clipping and managing paper-based coupons.
Gone are the days of arriving at a store only to
remember that the coupons you so carefully saved
are sitting on the kitchen counter at home. Now,
coupons can be stored in the form of a barcode
on a device that is always in reach — a mobile
phone. No more paper coupons to lose, misplace or
damage. Instead, every coupon a consumer saves
is available at the press of a few buttons.
Research shows that coupon programs work. One
survey of mobile users revealed that 96 percent will
use their mobile devices to find a retail bargain.
2
Another study found that 85 percent of shoppers
reported they’d be more likely to shop in places
that oer personalized coupons.
3
It’s clear that the
direct delivery of coupons to your customers on a
regular basis or even when they are near your store
is invaluable.
The electronic coupon —
an idea whose time has arrived
The mobile coupon has not only arrived, your
customers are embracing it. According to a recent
survey, 82 percent of smartphone users find
mobile coupons more convenient than bringing a
physical oer to the store.
4
As a result, the market
for mobile coupons is flourishing. According to
Nielsen’s fourth-quarter 2015 Mobile Wallet Report,
55 percent of smartphone shoppers used a mobile
coupon
5
and Juniper Research is projecting mobile
coupon users to pass one billion by 2019.
6
Highly cost-eective — and highly successful
With mobile coupon campaigns, there are no ads to
place, no coupons to print, no mailing costs and very
low administrative costs, so these programs are not
only extremely cost eective, but they are also very
low waste ‘green’ programs that are good for the
planet. In addition to being cost-eective, the ability to
connect to your customer in real-time in the manner in
which many now prefer to communicate — via text or
email — is providing extraordinary redemption rates.
Average redemption rates for mobile coupons are 10x
greater than traditional paper coupons.
7
APPLICATION BRIEF
MOBILE BARCODES: RETAIL
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Get in on the action with push and
pull mobile coupon campaigns
To take advantage of your mobile coupon
campaigns, customers need to give you access to
one of their most personal devices — their mobile
phones. These programs give your customers the
flexibility to obtain your mobile coupons in whatever
way makes them comfortable. You can either allow
customers to pull their own coupons from your
website or from a kiosk in your store, so they are in
complete control of when and where they receive
the coupons. You can also oer your customers
special incentives to join opt-in programs that allow
you to push coupons directly to their mobile phones
— yet still give them some control over how you can
interact with their mobile phone.
Pull campaigns. Allow your customers to pull your
coupons in a variety of ways. Customers can send a
text message from their mobile phones to instantly
receive your coupons; download mobile coupons
directly from the Internet to their mobile phones;
or send mobile coupons that were downloaded on
their desktop computers to their mobile phones via
a text or email message.
Do you have in-store kiosks? You can allow
shoppers to download mobile coupons from your
kiosks directly to their mobile phones via a wireless
Bluetooth connection. This marketing initiative
provides yet another channel to present special
oers to your customers, right in the aisles of your
store, creating ‘just-in-time’ marketing programs that
promote incremental sales and increase basket size.
Push campaigns. Opt-in programs provide very
targeted one-to-one real-time marketing campaigns
that are extremely cost eective. And if customers
are willing to give you their buying preferences,
they are rewarded with extra value. Instead of being
bombarded with coupons they will never use, they
receive coupons for items they purchase regularly
or are interested in purchasing — a win-win situation
for retailer and consumer alike.
Location-based push campaigns. Your customers
can also opt to give you access to the GPS location
data in their mobile phone to automatically send
the latest oer when they are either in the vicinity
of your store or actually in the aisles of your store.
This mobile ‘just in time’ advertising is an eective
and economical way to deliver personalized timely
oers that encourage customers to visit your store
— and make a purchase.
Mobile loyalty card programs
Today’s customer is a member of many loyalty
programs, forced to carry a multitude of plastic
credit card sized loyalty cards or a keychain full of
key fobs. Mobile loyalty programs can eliminate
that hassle for customers and provide multiple
benefits for the retailer. The cost of producing
physical loyalty cards is eliminated and program
administration is less labor intensive — you no
longer need to distribute physical cards to cashiers.
The result is a mobile loyalty card program that can
be executed with minimal eort and cost.
Customers prefer the convenience of mobile loyalty
cards. Instead of hunting for the physical card to
present at the register, customers simply browse
through the menu of available loyalty cards on
their mobile phone and select the right card to
display the appropriate 2D barcode on the screen.
One survey found that 73 percent of smartphone
shoppers are interested in saving loyalty cards to
their devices, and 66 percent said they would have
a more positive opinion of a loyalty program if it
were available on a mobile device.
8
And your customers can adopt mobile loyalty card
technology, even if you don’t. New mobile phone
applications allow customers to type in or scan the
data on any loyalty card to convert physical loyalty
cards into mobile loyalty cards that are stored on
their mobile phones. So while you may not be issuing
mobile loyalty cards today, your customers can still
present a mobile loyalty card at your register.
Mobile gift card programs
Mobile gift card programs provide convenience for
both the purchaser of the gift card and the recipient.
Gift cards can be purchased on your website at any
time and delivered directly to the mobile phone
of the recipient, in just minutes. Recipients always
have their gift cards on hand, and can even check
balances and expiration dates. And redeeming gift
cards is simple — customers just present the mobile
gift card barcode to the cashier to automatically
apply the credit to the purchase.
Available applications also allow your customers to
adopt this technology before you do. Customers
APPLICATION BRIEF
MOBILE BARCODES: RETAIL
4
who receive plastic credit-card style gift cards can
use a Web-based registry to store all their gift cards
electronically on a single website. Your customers
can then access the registry via their mobile phones,
able to easily browse through a list of their gift cards,
complete with available balance. At the press of a
button, customers can select a mobile gift card to
present at the register. So even if your store only
issues credit-card style gift cards, you may still need
to scan mobile barcodes at the register.
Regardless of whether the recipient received a mobile
gift card or transformed their plastic gift card into a
mobile gift card via an aggregator website, you have
established a new means of communication with your
customers — an invaluable direct connection to the
recipient’s mobile phone. Now you can cross-sell
other mobile barcode initiatives. For example, you
can invite gift card recipients to join your mobile
coupon opt-in program.
The many benefits of
mobile barcode programs
Regardless of the size of your retail operation or the
type of goods you sell, mobile barcode programs
return big benefits:
• Very low cost: Mobile barcode initiatives cost
just a fraction of traditional coupon, loyalty card
and gift card programs — there is no need to
print, mail or issue physical plastic or paper-
based cards and coupons.
• Rapid deployment: These purely electronic
programs can be executed in record time,
allowing you to respond rapidly to competitor
campaigns and incent sales of seasonal items
with a shorter shelf life.
• Very ‘green’: Mobile barcode programs do not
generate any paper or plastic refuse, promoting
your company’s environmentally friendly image.
• Successfully increase sales: With redemption
rates ten times higher than the traditional paper
coupon campaigns, you can easily generate
more sales with very little investment.
• Increased brand awareness and customer
loyalty: You get the most direct channel
possible to promote your brand to your
customer — your customer’s personal mobile
phone. In addition, friends and family members
that are with a customer who is redeeming a
mobile barcode also become aware of your
brand — and that your company is committed
to using the latest in technology to provide its
customers with value and convenience.
Enabling mobile
barcodes at the POS
In order to launch successful mobile barcode
marketing programs, you have to be able to read
the barcodes that are displayed on the mobile
phones of your customers. And with Zebra’s imager
family for retail, you can.
While traditional laser barcode scanners are
designed to read barcodes on paper labels, our
family of 2D imagers allows you to successfully
scan barcodes on paper labels as well as those
displayed on the highly reflective surface of a
mobile phone or computer screen. No matter what
type of store you have — from the largest retailers
to small boutique shops with space constrained
cash wraps — or how many customers you serve a
day, there is a scanner that will fit right in with your
store environment and your budget. And when you
choose Zebra Technologies, you get the peace of
mind that comes with choosing an industry leader
with vast experience supporting retailers of all
sizes, all around the world. Our scanners oer:
• The superior scanning technology that
makes Zebra Technologies the global market
share leader in the barcode industry: high
performance ‘scan and go’ simplicity on any
barcode — even damaged and poorly printed
barcodes — without aligning the barcode and
scanner window.
• Ease of use right out of the box with smart auto-
host detect cables, Zebra’s exclusive Scan-
to-Connect technology and a complimentary
staging tool. You can count on using Zebra
scanners from day one.
• The built-in durability to handle the bumps and
spills associated with all day, every day use.
• Remote management tools combine with
industry leading all-inclusive aordable service
plans to ensure maximum uptime and a very
low total cost of ownership (TCO).
Corded Image
Capture
MFi (made
for iOS)
Digimarc
Barcode
Support
Cordless EAS
De-
activation
Driver’s
License
RFID
Recommended
Zebra Imagers
for Retail
Handheld 1D/2D Imagers
DS2200 Series
Value pricing to meet the most budget-conscious
requirements — without compromising on the performance
and features required in retail.
• •
DS4308
Mid-range scanner when you need feature rich versatility
and a 28 in. range for scanning items in a cart.
• • • •
DS4800 Series
Provides the most fashion-conscious retail stores with chic
consumer styling, along with enterprise class scanning,
reliability, functionality and manageability.
• • •
DS8100 Series
Delivers the very best in scanning performance to increase
transactions and reduce customer wait time in the busiest,
scan-intensive environments.
• • • • • • •
Handheld/Hands-free 1D/2D Imagers
DS4308P
Delivers all the features of the DS4308, plus an integrated
pedestal that gives you the flexibility to switch on-the-fly
between handheld and hands-free scanning.
• • • •
DS9208
Get presentation scanning in a contemporary design that
is at home in design conscious environments.
• • • •
DS9808
Premium scanning performance in a combination handheld/
hands-free design with advanced ergonomics that deliver
all day comfort.
• • • • •
Fixed Mount 1D/2D Imagers
DS457
Tiny fixed mount scanner designed for the most space-
constrained areas — or can be mounted under the
counter if you need a zero footprint device.
• • •
On-Counter 1D/2D Imagers
DS7708
Get can’t-miss on-counter scanning with the largest
field of view in its class and next generation swipe speed.
•
• •
Companion 1D/2D Imagers
CS4070
Easily add advanced enterprise-class scanning to iOS,
Android and Windows mobile phones and tablets in
seconds with this Bluetooth pocket-sized device.
• •
APPLICATION BRIEF
MOBILE BARCODES: RETAIL
1. Mobility Report: Mobile subscriptions and penetration Q3 2016; Ericsson; https://www.ericsson.com/mobility-report/mobile-
subscriptions-and-penetration-q3-2016
2. 96pc of consumers will search for mobile coupons in 2015; Mobile Commerce Daily; December 31, 2014; http://www.
mobilecommercedaily.com/96pc-of-consumers-will-search-for-mobile-coupons-in-2015-report
3. New Research Shows How Digital Connects Shoppers to Local Stores; October 2014; Google; https://www.thinkwithgoogle.
com/articles/how-digital-connects-shoppers-to-local-stores.html
4. 2016 Mobile Consumer Report; Vibes; http://www.vibes.com/resources/2016-mobile-consumer-report, page 12
5. Shop ‘Til They Drop...Or at Least Until Their Thumbs Hurt: Getting to Know the Mobile Shopper; May 10, 2016; Nielsen;
http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/news/2016/shop-til-they-drop-or-at-least-until-their-thumbs-hurt-getting-to-know-
mobile-shoppers.html
6. Mobile Coupons: Consumer Engagement, Loyalty & Redemption Strategies 2014-2019; July 29. 2014; Juniper Research;
https://www.juniperresearch.com/press-release/coupons-pr1
7. 2016 State of the Mobile Coupon Industry; Koupon Media; page 2
8. 2016 Mobile Consumer Report; Vibes. http://www.vibes.com/resources/2016-mobile-consumer-report; pages 8 and 9
©2017 ZIH Corp and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Zebra and the stylized Zebra head are trademarks of ZIH Corp, registered in many jurisdictions
worldwide. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Part number: AB-RETAILMOBILEBARCODES 01/10/2017
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