Companies team to promote mobile commerce
Walmart has partnered with multinational product manufacturer Procter & Gamble (P&G) to launch a new mobile marketing campaign in New York City. Like other big-name retailers, Walmart has become enamored with the concept of mobile marketing. QR codes, in particular, have managed to capture a great deal of the company’s attention, partly due to their aptitude at engaging consumers. The retailer’s latest initiative is aimed at promoting online and mobile shopping in the city, hoping to show off the convenience of remote shopping through the use of QR codes.
PGMobile truck to provide consumers with access to QR coded products
The so called PGMobile initiative, which is a month-long campaign that will be held throughout July, will feature a truck that is covered with QR codes. These codes are linked to several goods that are produced by P&G. Scanning these codes with a smart phone will allow consumers to make mobile purchases of these products through Walmart.com. These products will then be shipped to a consumer’s home or other provided address. The PGMobile truck will also pass out free samples of products to consumers. The truck can be called to particular neighborhoods in New York City via Twitter.
Walmart begins to show more support for mobile commerce through marketing
Walmart notes that consumers have yet to take to making online purchases using their mobile devices. The retailer hopes that its latest mobile marketing campaign will encourage consumers to look more favorably on mobile commerce. The company has opted to use QR codes for this purpose because of their relatively simplistic nature, which is likely to be a boon for consumers that are looking to save time while shopping and those who are avoiding the sometimes cumbersome mobile commerce systems used by other retail companies.
Popularity of QR codes expected to grow as consumers become more comfortable with the technology
QR codes have long been a staple in mobile marketing, but consumers have not shown the same enthusiasm for the codes that advertisers have. This may change as QR codes and mobile marketing become more commonplace.
