SC Johnson and Naked Juice are two of the brands leveraging Shopmium, an interactive mobile coupon experience developed to save consumers money for no charge.

Shopmium, developed by a French company, has been live in Europe for the past three years, and recently launched in the United States for the Android and iOS markets. The application offers new discounts each week and cash-back offers after a user takes a photo of their receipt or scans the product bar code.

“People are spending more and more time on their smartphones and are reducing the time they spend on traditional media,” said Eli Curetti, CEO of Shopmium, Paris, France. “Coupons and mobile is a very natural match: users are now research shopping on their smartphones and mobile ads are the right way to promote products and incentivize purchase with a coupon.

“Also, as our reach in the US is growing, we are seeing more and more incoming calls from brands that like the Shopmium brand experience.”

Frequent discounts
Shopmium offers discounts on a wide variety of products, from SC Johnson’s cleaning supplies to Naked Juice’s beverages. A recent Shopmium rebate offered $1 off a 15.2 oz bottle of Naked Juice.

To get the rebate, users needed to scan the bar code of the juice bottle and then present a receipt. The rebate was then credited back to consumers’ PayPal account.

Offering discounts through these types of outlets is optimal exposure for brands and marketers. For foreign-based vendors such as Noosa Yoghurt, partnering with Shopmium is a simple way of increasing brand awareness and getting more consumers acquainted with the product at lower prices.

Mobile coupons are steadily on the rise, and are expected to hit 1.05 billion users by 2019 according to a recent study by Juniper Research (see story). Coupons can be targeted to specific audiences, demographics and locations, making push advertising easier for brands.

Advertising for marketers
Shopmium’s offers are visible on other couponing sites and are easily found when searching for specific deals. The app markets itself as good advertising due to the enhanced descriptions it offers for discounted products.

For a current discount running for RUNA tea, the Shopmium app offers background on the tea brand and displays which section of grocery stores its products can typically be located. An interactive map lets users discover where they can find the product of their choice nearby.

Deals can also be redeemed at any store.

“When we launched Shopmium in 2011, there were either outdated solutions on the market (paper coupons) or cumbersome approaches with low adoption (print-at-home coupons, NFC, etc.),” Mr. Curetti said.

“By using the receipt as the proof of purchase and building a unique ad + coupon service, we solve the advertising problem for brands and we help users discover new products and save money.”

Final Take
Alex Samuely is an editorial assistant on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York