Eagle Eye Solutions and ViVOtech to provide retailers with NFC mobile voucher service

This article is brought to you by Retail Technology Review: Eagle Eye Solutions and ViVOtech to provide retailers with NFC mobile voucher service.

Silicon Valley-based ViVOtech, a leading provider of Contactless and Near Field Communication (NFC) mobile phone payments, promotions and over-the-air (OTA) provisioning infrastructure software, and Eagle Eye Solutions, a world leader in mobile vouchering (providing platforms and implementation for the issuance and redemption of mobile vouchers) have agreed to integrate their respective systems to provide a consolidated mobile vouchering solution for retailers.

This relationship will enable retailers to issue unique mobile vouchers to customers - promotional, gift, loyalty, etc. - either via standard SMS text messages or directly to NFC-enabled mobile phones ready for redemption at the point of sale. All vouchers will be uniquely identified and transacted via the Eagle Eye Mobile Interactive (Mi) Voucher Redemption System. This will provide retailers with straight-through processing and real-time campaign tracking, allowing them to create accurate return- on-investment calculations and negating the current issue with paper coupons of malicious redemption.

The proposition is extremely simple: a voucher is issued by Eagle Eye Solutions via a text message. The text contains a unique voucher code which can alternately be provided through ViVOtech-enabled Smart Posters (posters containing an NFC tag to drive the consumer to the promotion). This allows consumers to simply tap their NFC-enabled device on a Smart Poster and the ViVOtech platform provisions the voucher that can be personalised based on their profile and the location - thus delivering maximum value to them. This voucher code can then be redeemed by entering the 8-digit number through Chip n Pin terminal -- an Eagle Eye Solutions patented redemption mechanism. If the voucher is issued to the NFC mobile device, then the voucher is redeemed by simply touching the mobile device to the contactless reader at the point of sale. The voucher code is automatically recorded by the EPoS and redeemed through the cash register against the sale.

"It is Eagle Eye Solutions' business mandate to remove the barriers to entry for retailers to accept mobile vouchers at their point of sale," Said Steve Rothwell, Chief Technology Officer, Eagle Eye Solutions. "This relationship provides a road map for retailers, over the coming years, to reach nearly 100% of customers, regardless of whether they have an old-style mobile or a new NFC-enabled mobile device. This relationship is critical to the development of the mobile industry for retailers, operators and consumers as the uptake of NFC-enabled devices grows."

Through this technology, retailers can offer promotions (e.g. "Buy One, Get One Free" and "10% Off", etc.) and mobile gift vouchers (e.g. "10 Gift Voucher") seamlessly to all customers who have a mobile device, and at the same time harness real data on customer behavior and trends. Previous coupon services operated by Eagle Eye Solutions are yielding on average a 30% redemption rate of issued coupons and are now a proven mechanism for driving footfall and revenue for retailers.

"Mobile vouchers are set for strong growth in the coming years based on the ability to add real value to consumers through new functionality and applications only possible with the mobile phone." Said Mohammad Khan, Founder and President, ViVOtech . "We are glad to work with market leaders such as Eagle Eye Solutions to deliver retailers the next generation of mobile vouchers: personalized, location sensitive, easy to use, store and redeem by consumers."

Juniper Research study

According to a recent Juniper Research study, mobile vouchers are expected to be one of the biggest winners of the current global recession. Juniper Research forecasts that the redemption value of mobile coupons will increase over 30% by 2010. The increase will result from a combination of consumers seeking discounts and merchants looking for increased sales. Report author Howard Wilcox says in a statement, ""We believe that merchants will see targeted, quick, one-to-one marketing campaigns via mobile coupons as a valuable marketing weapon. Considering that mobile coupons offer much better redemption rates and are more cost effective, they represent a win-win approach for innovative retailers."