Raising the level of customer engagement is an ongoing quest for any loyalty marketer. For Rachel Silva, Assistant Vice President of Marketing for Pep Boys, effective customer engagement has always been at the heart of the company’s daily mission. What’s more, mobile has been at the front of that customer strategy.
One year ago, Vibes launched WalletAds, a mobile ad technology that for the first time connected mobile ads with Apple Wallet and Android Pay, solving several problems with mobile advertising like closing the loop, building customer loyalty, and showing ROI. With WalletAds, consumers can “tap and save” coupons, special offers, or event reminders from an ad directly to their mobile wallets, and brands can track downloads and redemption rates.
Silva talked to Loyalty360 about the chance to test WalletAds with its customers.
“Pep Boys was one of the first auto service brands in the country to mobilize offers using Apple’s Passbook and Google Wallet (now Apple Wallet and Android Pay),” Silva explained. “We partnered with Vibes and saw outstanding results: 30% of all Pep Boys mobile wallet offers that were added to a wallet were redeemed in-store. Naturally, when we learned that Vibes would be introducing mobile wallet advertising, we jumped at the opportunity.”
Pep Boys has seen similar customer engagement/loyalty results with WalletAds.
“Our WalletAds campaigns have generated high “save to phone” and redemption rates, contributing to incremental revenue for Pep Boys,” Silva said. “That ability to close the loop on our mobile advertising spend is very valuable and lends itself perfectly to our mobile-first strategy, which is resonating extremely well with our customers.”
As opposed to print and online offers where the customer is in full control over usage, coupons stored in a mobile wallet allow Pep Boys the opportunity to influence redemption and create a lasting relationship with customers.
“When offers are added to a mobile wallet from WalletAds, we have the ability to remind customers using push notifications (e.g., when the offer will expire), target based on GPS location (e.g., nearby a Pep Boys location) and send updates to offer content (e.g., increase the offer),” Silva explained. “In the car service industry, something as simple as a reminder to get your oil changed with $10 off is seen as a huge benefit and convenience for our customers – and ultimately drives brand loyalty.”
WalletAds is simple and allows any static mobile banner ad to become interactive and enhanced with mobile wallet capabilities. For example, Vibes’ technology helped Pep Boys create a mobile ad with a special offer to save $10 off an oil change. The viewer taps the ad and is asked if they’d like to download this coupon to Apple Wallet (for iPhones) or Android Pay (for Android phones). With a second tap, the customer can save the offer to their phone. They can redeem it at any of Pep Boys’ participating locations when they make their next visit.
According to Vibes, Silva said that consumers want a mobile ad they click on to lead them to a coupon page over any other destination.
“And we’ve found that to be true,” she said. “Our customers are big fans of how simple the saving and redemption process is for mobile wallet offers. They appreciate that we are reaching them on the device they have on them at all times because it makes it easy to access these offers on the go. They love how mobile wallets eliminate the hassle of printing out offers and forgetting them at home. Not only is it easy for consumers to download and save the coupon, but our sales people continually comment on how simple it is to redeem these types of mobile coupons at the point of sale. They simply scan the digital barcode just as they would a paper coupon. It’s a win-win for us as a company and for our customers.”
Silva said that Pep Boys loves to be where its customers are.
“We can add value and deliver content in a place that’s easy for them to access on their phones,” she added. “We know who and where they are so we can market to them in a more customized manner. Plus, activating our mobile ads with Apple Wallet, combined with Apple Pay, gives our customers a secure, convenient, one-touch checkout experience.”