Introduction
Mobile technology use is taking shape in business. Many organizations are taking advantage of this new technology. Mcoupons is taking shape in the world. Redbox company should take advantage of this trend. Many shoppers get coupons on their mobile phones and it is becoming an easier way of accessing cheaper shopping. Online marketing is far much different from the world of print, broadcast, and out-of-home advertising markets. M-commerce is vast and is evolving at very high-rates such that it is becoming hard to properly target the audiences which are intended. The online marketers are looking for an efficient way of reaching their online audience while at the same time they are supposed to minimize expenditures. This paper will analyze the benefits and the risks that are associated with Mcoupons (Botha, Bothma, & Geldenhuys, 2008).
Benefits
Mcoupons is a good innovation. With the high costs that are associated with printing coupons and sending them to customers, mcoupons is a service which will reduce the inconveniences of traditional paper-based coupons. With m-coupons, the printing costs are eradicated. There is also an increase in sales as many people will come for the movie because there is a discount that I being offered. Another benefit that comes with this innovation is the fact that there will be revenue that will be earned when a customer is sending the request to the 5-digit number. There is a cost that the client will have to incur (Rao, Gupta, & Upadhyaya, 2007).
Mcoupons are easy to generate and distribute. Nearly everyone has a mobile phone. With the development of mobile phones which are able to access the internet, and the growing need and adoption of these smart phones, there is a growing use of information. Marketers no longer have to reach to the client directly. They can use mobile phones to get to the client. This way, marketing costs will be improved. Mcoupons are an innovation that needs little knowledge for one to master all the details of the innovation. It is easy to teach and train (Rao, Gupta, & Upadhyaya, 2007).
Risks
There are risks that are associated with mcoupons. With the availability of coupons on the phone, consumers are bound to engage in impulse buying. With the need to save on shopping, they might actually end up buying more without any plans. It is a lifestyle issue that will be introduced to the client. The traditional coupons required that one has to print the coupons and present them to the shop. Nowadays, people carry their phones wherever they go. This way, they will present these gadgets when they get the agents they can access their coupons (Botha, Bothma, & Geldenhuys, 2008).
Another issue is that the company might experience a lot of requests about handling mcoupon services. This is because it will be a popular service to many consumers. In the traditional setup, many consumers did not turn up to request for the discounts. This can be attributed to the fact that the consumers did not have the time and the patience to undergo the whole process. With the introduction of this service, there will be many consumers going for the service. This will bring unnecessary congestion to the company as they will now have to have dedicated staff who will handle these requests only (Rao, Gupta, & Upadhyaya, 2007).
The introduction of this innovation will also need to have technical knowledge. There will be a need of a technical department which will have to be set by the company. This is an extra cost. The department staff will be tasked with ensuring that the system is running well. All complaints about the whole process will have to be handled by the department.
References
Botha, J., Bothma, C., & Geldenhuys, P. (2008). Managing e-commerce in business. New Delhi: Juta and company Ltd.
Rao, R., Gupta, M., & Upadhyaya, S. (2007). Managing information assurance in financial services. NY: Idea Group Inc.
