Air Miles has launched a new program that uses in-store beacons to send its members exclusive mobile offers, allowing them to collect extra points on products.
The rewards program is testing the system of small messaging devices at 15 Rexall locations in Toronto, and in several Staples stores in Calgary and Edmonton. Air Miles will cover the cost of installing the beacons at the test locations.
Members can download the iOS Air Miles app and consent to receive push notifications. Then, when they enter a participating store, they’ll receive an alert letting them know that a mobile offer is available. If they tap through the notification, they’ll see two to four offers for mobile-only bonus points on featured products, and will be able to select one of them to redeem or save for a later date.
Air Miles plans to change up the available offers each week.
“We’re constantly watching the way the market is changing and looking for ways to evolve the [Air Miles] program to stay current to collectors,” said Emmie Fukuchi, vice-president of product development at Air Miles. “What we know is that they are living life on their mobile. On average, we have seen a 31% year-over-year growth in active mobile collectors over the past three years.”
Air Miles has experimented in the past with geofenced offers based on GPS data, but Fukuchi said the recent introduction and support for mobile beacons on Apple iOS devices was too good an opportunity to pass up.
She said Air Miles will test consumer reactions to the offers to improve the offering down the line, experimenting with exact beacon placement on store shelves and near checkout.
“While we ultimately hope this will increase the rate at which our collectors can find value in the program through higher offer redemption rates, our first goal is to gain understanding of how our collectors want to be served in-store through their mobile phones, and use that learning to drive future iterations of the Air Miles mobile experience,” she said.
As far as user privacy, the company said it will follow industry best practices: informing the user within the app about the purpose of the program and requiring active consent before sending push notifications.
