Is NFC an answer to mobile coupon redemption challenges

Mobile coupons have been said to be a promising medium of coupon distribution. Although mobile coupons are cost effective, have higher redemption rate and provide greater redemption control, they do not account for even1% of the total coupon distribution by volume. Point of sale redemption difficulties have been the major hurdle in the expected adoption of the mobile coupons, however with the advent of NFC things are supposed to change the scenario and drive the mobile coupon adoption. Digital coupons are growing at a rapid rate of 12-15% and the growth is forecasted to be even stronger in the coming years due to the shift in the focus on digital media from traditional media. Also the newspaper reading habits are decreasing sharply and enforcing the marketers looking for the alternate mediums of distributing coupons. The rise in the digital coupon will primarily be driven by mobile coupons in the future and mobile coupons are going to play a major role in the growth of digital coupons and coupons for that sake due to the growing number of smartphones in the USA. Growing M- commerce adoption is also one of the reasons why marketers should look for a smartphone oriented coupon strategy. Based on an estimate close to 14% of total US active buyers used a mobile to make their purchases.