New Technology to Deliver Coupons Directly to Cell Phone Users

Three messages from your husband, two from the kids and $0.50/1 Hellman's Mayonnaise. This might provide a glimpse of what your cell phone's inbox could look like in the not-too-distance future. Advertisers are looking for new ways to reach consumers and cell phone technology just might make that possible. My wife and I recently caught the coupon bug and have been clipping like crazy every Sunday. What if there was an easier way to manage these coupons?

CellFire.com is a new service that allows subscribers to receive coupons directly to their cell phone. Proving to be more efficient than your mother's coupon envelope, CellFire coupons may be scanned directly at the grocery store checkout from your cell phone. While targeted cell phone advertising has been a goal of major players Google and Nokia for some time, CellFire may be the first mover when it comes to delivering coupons directly to a cell phone.

The possibilities of this new technology are endless. Harnessing the power of GPS technology, along with Google's virtual maps, it is conceivable that you could be driving near your favorite restaurant and CellFire delivers a coupon off your favorite dish. Imagine passing your local grocery store and receiving coupons from your cell phone for your favorite household cleaners. The real beauty in the service may be the development of cell phone software to organize these virtual coupons. This virtual catalog could one day eliminate the need to carry that bulky three-ring binder with you to the grocery store. Imagine swiping your cell phone over the barcode reader and instantly applying coupons for the items you have purchased.

Technology advances in coupon delivery are not just beneficial to consumers, but to marketers as well. Currently, an estimated 99 percent of the 200 billion coupons delivered each year wind up in the landfill. Most experts agree that paper coupons are one of the worst marketing tools available in terms of return on the investment to produce and distribute. Mobile coupon technology via cell phone delivery could virtually eliminate the need for paper coupons since there are about 220 million cell phone subscribers in the United States alone.

Privacy advocates are not as impressed with the new technology, citing worries over embedded tracking software. Much the same way GPS technology embedded in cell phones gets criticism from privacy advocates, so does the CellFire technology, considering the delivery of targeted advertisements involves tracking spending habits, buyer preferences, etc. As with any new technology there will be kinks to iron out, but the possibilities for mobile coupons are endless.