Any restaurant, store or other local business owner can sign up for Yowza and offer their customers exclusive coupons and deals the very same day. Consumers looking for shopping or dining ideas can download Yowza, search for deals by location – via city, ZIP code, or using a mobile device’s GPS functionality to find offers within one, five, 15, 25 or 50 miles from their current location – and retrieve a coupon that can be redeemed in moments. 

“From the beginning, our mission was to bring savings to shoppers while helping merchants reach out to those shoppers in a cost-effective manner,” said August Trometer, cofounder of Yowza, Los Angeles.   “With our self sign-up, local merchants can effectively compete with the large, national chains at a very low cost.

“Depending on the size of your city, a local newspaper may charge a couple hundred dollars to run a single coupon for a single day,” he said.

“Yowza allows merchants to advertise for an entire month at a fraction of that cost.”

Yowza was created as a way to help companies – from national chains with major budgets and thousands of locations to local family-owned retailers with one storefront.

What is unique about the Yowza service is that small businesses who cannot afford the infrastructure to create their own application can participate in the mobile coupon revolution. 

Coupon redemption is easy with Yowza.

Cashiers or waiters can scan the bar code or enter the coupon code that appears on the mobile device into the system just like a paper coupon, with no new technology required.

“Because it’s location-based, Yowza allows merchants to market to the people most likely to buy: those that are nearby and who have money in their hands and looking to spend it,” Mr. Trometer said. “No other advertising medium has been able to do this before.

“In addition, through our online portal, Yowza gives merchants access to unprecedented analytics and real-time data, including the ability to see whether shoppers are looking at their coupon or not,” he said.

Participating retailers pay only $49 per location per month and may change or update offers as often as they’d like with no additional fees (up to three coupons may be offered at a time).

Additionally, each small business that signs up using the new self sign-up system will receive a welcome packet that includes easy instructions on how to get the most out of Yowza.
Companies also get decals to be placed in storefront windows telling consumers that mobile coupons are accepted, and a simple training guide for cashiers and other staff. 

“One of our goals was to make shopping easier and cheaper for the shopper while sending more of those shoppers through the doors of Yowza merchantism” Mr. Trometer said. “People don’t want to spend a lot of time clipping coupons, and Yowza makes it easy to save money.

“Mobile coupons give merchants the opportunity to market to the shoppers most likely to buy: those that are nearby and who are looking to spend money,” he said. “And with Yowza, because the cost is so low, it allows these local merchants to compete equally against the large national chains.

“Most people prefer to patronize a local business rather than a big chain. Mobile coupons and Yowza can help them rediscover what they’ve been missing by offering deals at small neighborhood boutiques and family-owned restaurants.”