My Loyalty Coupon Rewards Mobile App Idea
Problem
In 2012, I have this idea which has been slowly developing in my mind for quite some time and the idea came about from the process of doing grocery shopping with my wife. In the Korean supermarket industry, they are a big advocate of rewards programme to try and get their customers to come shop with them again. However each supermarket operate their own rewards card program so if you happen to shop at different Korean supermarkets, you can have up to 5 or more different cards. These extra cards will add volume to the already full wallet of credit cards, bank cards, driver license and heaven knows what other cards you keep.
Observation
- Each store has their own rewards card;
- Some product items are not counted towards points to your card. For example, discounted marked down items, high price item;
- When customers forget to bring their card, some stores can retrieve customer details via mobile phone number;
Idea
Rather than investing in another larger purse for a close friend of mine, I wondered if technology can be use in some ways to solve the expanding purse of cards that are threatening to explode the next time it opens.
I was thinking of a mobile app solution.
Customer Journey and User Design/ Experience (UX) mockup
Below shows the user mockup of the screen flow for the mobile app that I came up with.
Challenges
- Barcode: Even though the mobile app can generate different barcode type (Code 128 etc), current supermarket barcode scanners have limitation to scan and read the barcode on a mobile phone. This is due to the barcode scanning light reflecting off the mobile phone surface away from the scanner. I have tested and found Kmart POS has handheld barcode scanner which can scan barcode on a mobile phone. Apparently newer generation barcode scanners will overcome this limitation and I do not see supermarket replacing their scanner anytime soon.
- Consumers vs Suppliers app adoption: Which side of the marketplace should be fulfilled first in order to gain and increase app adoption. Would getting a small list of shops to participate generate the customer base needed or having a large customer base persuade shops to participate. This leads to question on which side of the market should be charged for the service. It is a chicken and egg scenario.
Next steps
I have taken the decision to pause further work as it would deliver poor customer experience due to barcodes in mobile phones are not readable by shop scanners. Further consideration includes RFID tags or future chat between vendors and store owners.
