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March 15, 2022

Attention shoppers: Please answer your cell phone

The next time your cell phone beeps, don't be surprised if it's a digital coupon rather than your mother.

Retailers are excited by the target-marketing possibilities of electronically delivering personalized offers to your phone.

Annoying? Perhaps, but if you’re so inclined using that voucher just got a whole lot easier.  

 

U.S. retailer Target has just started to allow its customers to redeem mobile barcode coupons directly on their handsets. All it takes is a quick scan at the checkout of any of Target’s 1,740 retail stores.

Target customers will need to have a phone capable of web browsing in order to use the coupon, which gets redeemed when the bar code on the phone is scanned at checkout.

The convenience of digital coupons is appealing to a new crop of shoppers, many of whom wouldn’t be caught dead rummaging among paper coupons just to get 50 cents off a can of soup.

And if this type of promotion appeals to you and you’re an iPhone user, be sure to check out Coupon Sherpa – particularly if you’re shopping in the U.S.  

The easy-to-use app displays a lengthy list of retail businesses, and tapping through you can see available coupons for each store. Coupon Sherpa makes sure to only show coupons for area businesses, so you’re not scrolling through a stack you can’t actually use.

From there, you just tap the coupon you’re interested in, load it in your browser and pass it on the cashier, who may be able to scan it off the screen as Target is doing or, if that doesn’t work, will simply punch in the barcode.

Do you use cell phone coupons or are you still snipping? Do they affect your buying behaviour?

By Gordon Powers, MSN Money

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Gordon PowersGordon Powers

A long-time fund company executive, Gordon Powers now heads up the Affinity Group, a financial services consulting firm. Gordon was a personal finance columnist for the Globe & Mail for many years, has taught retirement planning...

Jason BucklandJason Buckland

The modern-day MC Hammer of money, Jason can often be seen spending cash that isn’t his with the efficiency of a Wilt Chamberlain first date. After cutting his teeth as a reporter for the Toronto Sun, he joined the MSN Money team with...