News

Procter & Gamble seeking way to scan coupons to phones

January 23, 2012

Coupons are coming to consumers' phones, according to Procter & Gamble, who just signed a deal with a Silicon Valley start-up to find a way to scan coupons to smart phones.

Redeeming money-saving offers on a smart phone by pointing the device at a standard-issue grocery store scanner may sound pretty easy, but a coupon's barcode on a mobile phone cannot be read by most red-laser scanners, the kind used by retailers across the country, according to Cincinnati.com.

From the story:

Solving that problem could speed the acceptance of mobile-phone coupons in the marketplace, possibly changing the way America shops. Manufacturers like P&G potentially could save millions in print ads. Retailers could target their most loyal customers. Shoppers could collect coupons electronically and speed through the checkout aisles.

To make that possible, P&G is throwing its considerable weight behind technology created by a San Francisco-based firm called Mobeam, and the two plan to test it sometime this year.

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