LOS ALTOS, CA and SUNNYVALE, CA--(Marketwired - Nov 20, 2014) - Results of a pilot completed this month reveal a unique mobile analytics solution and data-driven insights for solving a primary concern of merchants and restaurateurs held back by outdated point-of-sale (POS) systems -- receiving optimal return on investment (ROI) for mobile offers and promotions.
A technology partnership between Mowingo, the nation's premier mobile customer engagement platform, and Star Micronics, a preeminent printer manufacturer, created a mobile analytics solution for these merchants. Mobile offer and sales data from local owners of a national quick service restaurant revealed that, on average:
- Stores receive the highest incremental sales using "free with purchase" offers
- The highest ROI is achieved with "buy one, get one free" ("BOGO") offers, which regularly outperform price-point and percentage discount offers by up to 55%, and outperform "free with purchase" coupons by up to 28%.
"We knew our customers redeemed buy-one-get-one-free offers at high rates when compared to other offers, but didn't have any straightforward means of actually comparing our promos against sales," said Cosme Fagundo, a local owner of several quick service restaurants in the Bay Area. "With Mowingo and Star Micronics' solution, we're now able to see that certain offers bring a much higher ROI on a more consistent basis than others, and it certainly eases our mind to know that we're regularly bringing in profit well beyond the cost of a burger."
As most restaurant owners are tied to their current point-of-sale (POS) system, due to cost or franchise contractual restrictions, any room for innovation in areas like mobility had to be brought to restaurateurs through peripheral products, like Star Micronics' network of smart receipt printers.
"Our mobile redemption data showed us what brought customers in-store and what the most popular coupons were, but we weren't able to track results beyond redemption at the POS," said Mowingo's CEO, Daniel Dreymann. "That's a lot of analysis missing in the sales cycle [due to expensive, outdated POS technology]. We wanted to delve into the problem and come up with something that restaurant owners could use to track the ROI of specific promotions, and, by extension, boost it. We finally found a solution to close the loop with our loyalty and engagement platform through Star Micronics' smart printers at the POS, and were able to offer the merchant the ability to do receipt analysis on the back-end."
"Once the POS system registers the order, our CLOUD-enabled printers can capture the information shown on the receipt, allowing the sales data to be reviewed by retailer or their partners," said David Salisbury, Director of Global Marketing for Star Micronics. "The possibilities for a store owner to create and track promotional programs are expanded significantly now that they don't have to wait until they can afford a new POS system to enter the mobile age."
"We're all excited that through our work together, a solution to a problem faced by many store owners is finally available," said Dreymann.
About Mowingo
Mowingo's mobile customer engagement platform makes it easy for brands and merchants to connect with customers, driving more store visits and repeat purchases. Mowingo helps brands empower their local managers to control promotions at the regional, market, and store levels.
Using targeted, intelligent offers, and time-sensitive notifications, in combination with geolocation technology, such as GPS and iBeacon, Mowingo effectively pushes the right message, at the right time, at the right location. Whether Mowingo creates a new app, or enhances a brand's existing app, its platform raises customer engagement, leading to improved business results.
Based in Silicon Valley, with an office in Burlington, MA, Mowingo's mobile platform is currently deployed at thousands of locations around the globe, engaging millions of consumers. To get a taste of Mowingo, download our McD App: http://mcdapp.com, or visit us at www.mowingo.com.
About Star Micronics
Star Micronics, one of the world's largest printer and POS technology manufacturers, has designed a portfolio of printing, secure cash management and customer engagement technology solutions for any retail or hospitality establishment whether traditional POS or mobile POS environment.
Embracing the mobility wave, Star was the first printer manufacturer to offer Android and iOS SDKs for all of its printers. The complementary SDKs allow end-users to utilize Star printers in tandem with Android™, Apple iPad®, iPod Touch® and iPhone® devices to generate receipts.
Star Micronics America, Inc. is a subsidiary of Star Micronics Company Ltd. In addition to being one of the largest printer and POS technology manufacturers worldwide, Star Micronics also manufactures high-precision machine tools and precision parts. Star Micronics Company Ltd. is ranked as one of the Top 50 "Most Stable" Japanese companies on the Japanese Nikkei. For more information, visit www.starmicronics.com or call 800-782-7636.
