Walgreens shows iQ with shopper marketing initiative
A new digital initiative from Walgreens allows the retailer to engage with shoppers at multiple touchpoints on the path to purchase thanks to a personalized digital coupon and analytics platform from Coupons.com called Retailer iQ.
Coupons.com announced the launch of Retailer iQ with Walgreens as the largest user of the platform with implementations underway with four other unidentified retailers. According to Coupons.com Retailer iQ fundamentally changes the promotions and checkout experience for shoppers and retailers by making them digital, mobile and personalized.
“Our customers live in a digital world and providing them with valuable offerings such as paperless coupons or digital receipts is an example of how we make the shopping experience even more convenient,” said Rich Lesperance, Walgreens senior director of personalization and CRM. “Walgreens is excited to be on the forefront of digital and working with Retailer iQ supports our ability to deliver relevant rewards and savings through an omnichannel approach.”
Retailer iQ is said to combine several innovative components into one cohesive, omnichannel platform that is designed to drive consumer engagement, activation and shopping behavior for retailers and consumer packaged goods companies. For example, components include such things as digital e-receipt via SMS and email, personalized recommendations for products and coupons, integrated shopping lists, extensive targeting capabilities, real time analytics and a wide range of integrated digital media experiences. The platform integrates into the retailer’s point-of-sale system to manage the entire flow of digital couponing, including creation, issuance, activation, redemption, validation and clearing.
“This technology pushes crumpled, indecipherable receipts and irrelevant coupons into the digital era,” said Steven Boal, CEO and founder of Coupons.com. “It’s an incredibly powerful tool. We spent three years building it and we’re proud to be working with Walgreens and our other brand and retailer partners to lead the future of promotions.”
Walgreens began rolling out Retailer iQ early this year, and the technology is now running in more than 8,000 stores. It gives the retailer’s Balance Rewards members access to paperless coupons and digital receipts, with the ability to clip digital offers from Walgreens.com/coupons and within its mobile app. Users can redeem offers at point-of-sale by swiping their Balance Rewards cards.
“More and more consumers are electing to receive digital receipts when offered the option at checkout,” said Boal. “Retailer iQ creates a powerful connection from those e-receipts to highly relevant digital coupons, with benefits for shoppers and retailers alike. This is a significant step toward our goal of transforming the multi-billion dollar promotions industry.”
According to Boal, the power of Retailer iQ lies in its replacement of paper receipts and promotions with an integrated omnichannel digital experience that keeps the shopper and retailer connected beyond the register. Coupons.com’s offering is a differentiator for marketers that want to know how online spending drives offline sales. At checkout, shoppers have the option to receive an e-receipt that’s delivered in a text message or an email. In addition to listing items purchased, the e-receipt also includes highly relevant digital coupons that can be added directly to their account, loyalty card or rewards program for paperless savings. Shopping lists can be created and managed, incorporating personalized offers based on purchase history. And a dashboard completes the purely digital experience, showing shoppers potential savings available and which coupons they have yet to use.
Retailer iQ is built on top of a personalization platform that evaluates shopping baskets and shopping history in addition to other data to deliver a highly personalized experience for consumers. Whether it is information from retailers or manufacturers on the e-receipt, recommendations for adding items to the shopping list, or highly relevant coupons, Retailer iQ’s data engine is designed to make every interaction shopper-specific.