P&G partners with California-based technology company Mobeam to bring the first-ever fully mobile couponing system to market that will enable consumers to use their phones instead of stack of coupons at checkout

Michelle Rivera

SAN FRANCISCO , December 19, 2011 (press release) – In its continuous effort to improve life for consumers, the Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is partnering with mobeam inc. to bring the first-ever fully mobile couponing system to market. The innovation, created by mobeam of California, makes electronic coupons presented on a phone or other mobile device scannable, so shoppers need only their phones/handhelds, not a stack of coupons, at check out.

Today, couponing represents a growing $3.7 billion segment of the consumer packaged goods (CPG) market in North America, with more than 300 billion coupons distributed every year and redemption on the increase as consumers strive for greater value and savings. And while smartphones are supporting users and simplifying life in a host of new ways, until now, phone couponing has not been an option because barcodes displayed on mobile phone screens are invisible to commonly used in-store laser scanners.

Mobeam technology converts -- or mobeams -- the barcode data into a beam of light that can be read by barcode scanners already found at store checkout counters. No additional point of sale (POS) equipment is needed.

"As impossible as it seems, even to technologists in the mobile industry, a vividly displayed barcode cannot be read by the typical barcode scanner," said Nick Holland, senior analyst with Yankee Group. "The inability for a red laser scanner to read information displayed on a smartphone is not a small problem. This limiting factor is stalling important innovation as the retail industry is stuck waiting for next generation mobile technology to go mainstream. The mobeam beaming solution eloquently fixes this problem, enabling current generation mobile devices to interface with legacy red laser barcode scanners."

P&G, one of the world's leading coupon distributors, developed a partnership with mobeam through P&G's open innovation Connect+Develop program, designed to bring leading innovation into P&G and share P&G innovation with others.

The P&G and mobeam partnership is aimed at exploring and testing a new, highly efficient method for consumers to redeem -- and retailers to accept -- coupons at the point of sale.

"Our vision with P&G is for the mobeam technology to be used and leveraged broadly by many leading CPG companies, with P&G and other key consumer goods partners as first adopters," said mobeam CEO Christopher Sellers.

The next step in the partnership is to work with the mobile communications industry to add the mobeam application into handheld phones and then to test the application and process with shoppers and selected retailers.

"We are excited about the potential for this new technology and our partnership with mobeam to make shopping simpler and faster for consumers. Couponing is a great way for shoppers to try new products or save on the trusted brands their families have come to love. If that can be easier, faster and less costly for shoppers and retailers, we want to help bring it to life," said Jeff Weedman, vice president of P&G Global Business Development.

Mobeam is working with handset manufacturers to engineer its light-based communications technology into new lines of handsets. P&G, mobeam and other partners expect to test the technology in market in 2012.

A mobeam-enabled couponing service would provide significant benefit to key stakeholders:

CONSUMERS:

Consumers would be able to collect and manage coupons received electronically and redeem them from their phones at the point of sale. Up to now, coupons received electronically either had to be printed to be redeemed, downloaded to a loyalty card or a checkout clerk would have to manually key in a coupon code. Not only will a shopper using the mobeam technology benefit, so will all the shoppers standing behind her in line.

RETAILERS:

The service aims to enable North American retailers to accelerate adoption of mobile coupons without hardware changes at POS. Because coupons will be submitted digitally, mobile coupons would increase efficiency and reduce costs.

CPG COMPANIES:

Digital coupons provide substantially deeper analytic capabilities, allowing better measurement of campaign effectiveness, as well as efficiencies in distribution, purchase validation and processing.

About mobeam

Mobeam, inc. is transforming mobile commerce with its unique and patented light based communications technology. Overcoming the technical barrier preventing mobile phones from interacting with laser scanners at checkout, mobeam's technology provides universal access at point of sale (POS), enabling the transmission of coupons, gift cards, tickets and other barcode data at retailers worldwide. Mobeam's technology powers new capabilities for existing mobile phone designs, and requires no changes to retailer POS infrastructure. Mobeam is headquartered in San Francisco, California. For more information visit www.mobeam.com .

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