Only 8% of Grocery Shoppers Want Location-Based Coupons

Just 8 percent of 1,546 consumers surveyed in the United Kingdom said they want to receive a mobile coupon while they are in a supermarket, according to research by U.K.-based company Evolution Insights. Conversely, 51 percent said they were fine with receiving mobile coupons before entering the grocery store.

So could location-based mobile coupons be akin to pop-up ads that have annoyed viewers since the dawn of the Internet? James Johnson, lead analyst for Evolution Insights’ study, cautioned marketers for consumer packaged goods on that front.

“The rise of GPS-enabled smart phones brings opportunities to target shoppers with marketing based upon their actual location,” Johnson said. “But do grocery shoppers really want to be interrupted with the latest coupons and deals on their mobile when they walk past or enter the supermarket?”

Meanwhile, the study’s results are a bit sobering for mobile coupon marketers compared to one released last month by Briabe Media and MocoSpace, which surveyed 12,533 U.S. consumers. Their research found that 30 percent of survey respondents said they expected to use mobile coupons during the holiday season. And 14 percent said they typically use mobile coupons.