Mobilitrix enables 100% reach across retail in the SA market The much anticipated launch of targeted and secure digital vouchers was announced today by Mobilitrix, with the objective of giving retail brands the ability to connect to the mass digital market.

 

Rewarding loyalty while gaining ongoing targeted insights into customers can be costly if done via the traditional routes, but a local software firm has launched a secure digital voucher solution set to revolutionise the way retail brands engage with their consumers. The suite of products and services provided by Mobilitrix gives retailers and brands that supply retailers the complete turn-key solution to engage with customers from a CRM perspective - and then issue them unique vouchers that can be redeemed at a specific store, or even for a specific product.

 

Mobilitrix offers the ability to collect relevant information retailers thrive on, with the loyalty rewards that consumers love. The combination is simple: using simple mobile surveys and other mobile products, brands can begin to engage with their customers in a cost-effective digital way - and then reward those companies for engaging and purchasing their brands.

 

Mobilitrix uses a combination of technologies to ensure that the total mobile phone and web-based market place is accounted for from a consumer reach perspective. In addition Mobilitrix has developed key strategic partnerships with point of sales (POS) manufacturers and software providers to ensure that these vouchers can be redeemed in real time at all retail outlets in South Africa. The results of this intelligent product innovation are quite remarkable and something that consumer brands, retailers and marketers have been eagerly awaiting for some time.

 

Using simple SMS, USSD technology (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) -- the same service millions of South Africans use daily to load airtime onto their phones, check balances and request please-call-me's and html (i.e. voucher can be offered on Facebook, Twitter and other social networks) Mobilitrix's goal is to ensure that all customers can be reached in cost-effective, intelligent way.

 

"All Marketing and advertising should have the goal of getting consumers to purchase your product - either today or sometime in the future," says Chris Rolfe, CEO of Mobilitrix "and issuing your customers a unique voucher or coupon for one of your products helps to measure and track any marketing spend and create a believable ROI." The voucher reward, given in the form of a unique number the customer on their mobile phone, brings feet into stores where it is historically proven to increase average spend.

 

"Mobilitrix provides all the technology required to distribute, track and redeem vouchers, whether you choose to use the SMS, html or USSD channel to distribute" comments Andrew Cardoza, CTO and Founder of Mobilitrix." No additional hardware upgrade is required at POS and the retailer can be up in running with a secure digital voucher with very short lead times" adds Cardoza.

 

For marketers, building a campaign using vouchers they can be as specific as they want when tailor-making the CRM questionnaires to individual consumers. If a brand is targeting two different age or language groups, then the initial mobilisurvey question is all that's needed to direct the mobile user to the next targeted question relevant to their market. This allows consumer data such as age, language and specific store preferences, buying trends and product insights to be collected and mapped against those participating customers.

 

The Mobilitrix technology's security is one of the most recognised features of the innovation, a key factor that led to global recognition for the company in 2008. Alongside Nokia, IBM, Verizon and Oracle, Mobilitrix was recognised one of the world's leading innovators by Frost and Sullivan.

 

From a green perspective, replacing clumsy unsecured paper-based vouchers is music to the ears of retailers and brands. Mobilitrix sees the ability to issue and track vouchers in a digital way to enhance the product that it should lead to a 20 fold increase in the number of vouchers that are currently being used across the retail landscape in South Africa.

 

For Rolfe, the mission is clear "We are taking the antiquated world of paper-based vouchers, digitizing them and in so doing, we aim to grow this market segment by making it more intelligent, more measurable and more driven toward completing the commercial transaction between brands and retailers." Given the comprehensive voucher solution that Mobilitrix has launched, and by keeping implementation costs down for retailers, it looks like Rolfe is set to achieve his goals in 2010.