Spar stores in the South West of England are trialling an new mobile marketing scheme set to help retailers communicate with their customers in a new way.

The initiative will see Spar retailers use mobile marketing to communicate with their customers, giving retailers an opportunity to promote national, regional and store-specific offers to their local market in a fresh way.

The offers will contain unique codes to track the success of the promotions and help Spar UK to develop more targeted promotional offers in future. The system is powered using Eagle Eye Solutions patented digital coupons redemption technology via the Chip and PIN terminal.

POS will be made available to stores featuring QR codes to help generate further interest in the campaign and boost uptake, including shelf barkers, posters, hanging boards and an external banner.

Customers will be able to download the Spar mobile app for free on both iPhone and Android devices which will include all relevant offers, recipes, store locator and a news section.

The scheme is available in Spar North Hill, Plymouth and will be released to a selection of trial stores in the South West of England, supplied by Spar wholesaler Appleby Westward Group. It is set to be rolled out to Spar stores nationally.

Andy Burt, Spar UK marketing manager, said: “At this juncture, it is very much about trialling the technology to better understand the needs of our retailers and customers alike. This in turn, will help shape the national proposition that we adopt.

“Mobile marketing represents a fantastic opportunity for Spar and we want to lead the way in this innovative sector, as one of the first symbol groups in the UK to launch a mobile proposition.

“Eighty per cent of smartphone users access the mobile internet regularly from their phones and mobile web traffic has grown by 500% in the past two years. Online grocery retail is expected to double to almost £10bn in the next five years driven by the increasing use of mobiles, making this the ideal time to launch mobile offers.

“The initiative is set to improve communication with shoppers, find out more about our local customers and their shopping preferences, and increase footfall and basket spend through relevant offers.

“It will also empower our retailers to respond quickly to the changing needs of their local shoppers, and provide them with a leading-edge way to market their own local deals,” he said.

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