Beacons and personalised mobile offers are some of the buzzwords of the moment, but it’s not always easy to work out exactly how they can be used in the real world.

Offering discounts to a particular audience doesn’t justify spamming shoppers

Almost every case study about mobile loyalty, iBeacons and mobile wallets highlights how mobile will enable retailers to target customers with real-time offers and discounts.

Although mobile technology is a great enabler for this, Magnus Jern, founder of Golden Gekko, says every organisation should think twice before using it in this manner.

Jern says too many promotions can devalue a product or brand. “If a product is discounted nine out of 10 times, why buy something at full price?

Why give discounts to people who would buy the product or service at full price? Do you want customers who only buy when there are offers on?”

While careful use of mobile and data can be effective, retailers will need to approach it carefully, or risk either annoying shoppers with too many offers, or attracting the wrong type of customer.

Jern says: “The majority of people believe that you get what you pay for, so if they see a cheap offer, they perceive it as lower quality.

“This will devalue your services and position your business as low cost rather than representing added value.”

For some retailers, offering everything at a discount caters to their audience and chimes well with their strategy. But Jern says: “Even so, this doesn’t justify spamming customers with constant offers.”