News

NCR's coupon-to-card app brings new capabilities to multichannel offer management software

January 14, 2010

NCR Corp. has announced that a new coupon-to-card application is available for its multichannel offer management software, the NCR Advanced Marketing solution. The enhanced software provides retailers with a single solution to manage and deliver loyalty programs and promotional offers, while enabling shoppers to select online coupons and have them delivered directly to their loyalty cards, removing the need to print and carry paper coupons to the store.

NCR Advanced Marketing customer Marsh Supermarkets, operating 99 grocery stores in Indiana and Ohio, will implement the application as part of its Fresh I-D-E-A loyalty program later this year.

With this new functionality, a shopper can visit the online coupon Web site of their choice, select the coupons they desire and then identify the store in which they will redeem the coupon. The NCR Advanced Marketing solution then receives this data and automatically activates the offer without manual intervention from the retailer. When the shopper visits the store and presents their loyalty card, the NCR Advanced Marketing solution confirms that the appropriate items have been selected by the shopper, applies the proper promotion at the point-of-sale and then sends the redemption information back to the source for clearing.

The NCR Coupon-to-Card functionality integrates with many online coupon vendors, providing retailers with the flexibility to exercise their choice in digital coupon solutions. A wide variety of coupon configurations are supported, including percentage discounts, cash discounts, buy one get one free, buy A get B free and more.

"We look forward to extending the benefits of the NCR Coupon-to-Card solution to our customers and utilizing this technology as part of our Fresh I-D-E-A loyalty program later this year," said Mark Heckman, vice president of marketing for Marsh Supermarkets. "Our customers will appreciate the added convenience of not having to print out coupons and faster checkout times, and Marsh will gain new operational efficiencies, such as reducing the costs of processing paper coupons."

The NCR Advanced Marketing solution is a comprehensive, flexible and consumer-specific multichannel offer management solution. Retailers can craft incentive offers based on many factors, including basket size, item mix, loss leaders or other parameters. The promotional message can then be delivered across multiple channels, including email, the Web and the point-of-sale. NCR Advanced Marketing allows retailers to coordinate and manage offers, loyalty programs or incentives and then view real-time results.

"Consumers continue to demand faster, easier and more convenient ways to shop and do business with establishments that they feel deliver greater value," said NCR Advanced Marketing Solution general manager Adam Blake. "The NCR Advanced Marketing solution can help retailers deliver this enhanced value and unify their marketing resources to engage shoppers through many channels — online, in the store or even through mobile devices — with personalized, multichannel offers. This ability can improve the overall customer experience and enhance the effectiveness of loyalty programs."