Mocapay Inc. has signed yogurt store Yumilicious to its mobile loyalty program in a move some observers say illustrates the future for loyalty and prepaid gift cards.
The retail chain, which has three stores supporting the loyalty program, is the first to sign up with Mocapay and plans to expand the program to all its 18 stores, Doug Dwyre, president of Mocapay, tells PaymentsSource.
When testing the service earlier this fall, the Dallas-based store chain signed up 400 new loyalty customers in just two hours, says Dwyre. This highlighted a major selling point for the yogurt store because the sign-up system through Mocapay immediately implements the loyalty program, he notes.
Mocapay gives customers a $10 mobile gift card credit for every $100 they spend at participating stores, he says. Customers can use a text-message or app code to access their gift card value when making a purchase at the stores.
“All we did is had their cashiers take mobile numbers, and as soon as they keyed them in that customer would receive a text message telling them they could use the loyalty program right then and there,” says Dwyre. The message also instructed the customer to use the program via text message, download the Mocapay loyalty app or use their smart phone browser to access the program via the Web.
Mocapay, which says retailers like that consumers can carry the loyalty program on their phones, expects a handful of retailers to go live with the loyalty program within the next six weeks.
“What retailers like is that they can interact with their customers in a way the customers want to interact, and they always have their phones with them,” says Dwyre, who adds that a major big-box retailer is set to test the system with its employees starting Nov. 1, though he would not name the retailer.
Loyalty market analysts have lauded the mobile phone as the future application for retail loyalty programs (
Indeed, mobile loyalty is very important for retailers to develop because of consumer preference, says Kelly Hlavinka, a managing partner in Colloquy, a Cincinnati-based loyalty marketing research and consulting firm.
“Consumers can access their personal contacts and resources from anywhere at any moment,” she says. “They’re using any tools that are convenient, adapting quickly to whatever becomes available. To stay in step, loyalty practitioners must do the same.”
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