Did you know that Mobile Wallet is more than just digital payments? Mobile Wallet is all of your coupons, Loyalty cards, gift cards, boarding passes, and more – all stored in the one place that’s always at your fingertips: Your mobile device.
Not only that, Mobile Wallet is in fact a versatile marketing channel all on its own that helps brands connect better with their customers in a safe, secure and contactless way.
This article provides you with a comprehensive overview of the power that Mobile Wallet can drive when it’s activated as its own channel and how it drives more effective customer engagement.
In this article you will learn more about:
- Mobile Wallet’s capabilities and the benefits it drives for brands
- Activation strategies for how to effectively use Mobile Wallet as a channel across various pass types, such as offers and coupons, Loyalty cards, gift cards, tickets, identification, and more
- How your industry can benefit from activating Mobile Wallet as a channel, from retail to healthcare, hospitality, and more
Table of Contents
Content Summary
What is Mobile Wallet?
Mobile Wallet Capabilities
Mobile Wallet Activation Strategies
Weaving Mobile Wallet Into Your Mobile Engagement Program
Mobile Wallet Impact On Key Industries
What is Mobile Wallet?
Mobile Wallet is the summary term for the native apps, “Apple Wallet” and “Google Pay” built into all iOS and Android devices. They require no extra download or sign up by customers to use.
While Apple Wallet and Google Pay are best known for holding consumers’ credit cards and enabling contactless mobile payments, they offer much more than just a digital payment option at checkout. With Mobile Wallet, coupons, Loyalty membership cards, boarding passes, event tickets, gift cards and other items, one might find in their back pocket or purse, are instead housed and organized as “passes” in a single location – a person’s mobile device – where they can easily be found and used.
Unlike physical versions of the mobile wallet examples, their digital counterparts are impossible to lose track of: Once a mobile wallet pass is saved to a user’s device it remains in their mobile wallet unless they take action to remove the pass. This is incredibly powerful because 85% of mobile wallet users rarely delete passes.
And like any other app, you can send lock screen “push” notifications to consumers to remind them to take an action or provide updates.
Mobile Wallet is here to stay:
- +$100B Mobile Wallet market size in 2020, and is expected to grow at over 20% CAGR between 2021 and 2027
- 2.8B Mobile Wallet users worldwide
- 28% of consumers would prefer to pay with their phones all of the time
Mobile Wallet Capabilities
Evergreen presence on the phone
Once a mobile wallet pass is saved to a mobile device it remains in the consumer’s mobile wallet. For brands, an always-on presence in the place where consumers are always connected to – their phone. In other words, once a brand’s mobile wallet pass has been downloaded, you have a huge advantage over competitors.
Since each saved mobile wallet pass, normally, has to be manually removed by the user, pass removal rarely, if ever, happens.
Dynamic content brands can control
The mobile wallet pass itself is completely dynamic, meaning all of the real estate on the pass can be updated at any time, as often as a brand desires, and in real time. By having the ability to update the content on saved mobile wallet passes with new information at any time, you have a versatile, persistent, visual way to engage with your customers.
So instead of static marketing collateral, mobile wallet can be used as an ongoing channel to continuously keep customers updated and drive them to act.
Have a Loyalty program? Create a Loyalty pass where you can keep members up to date on their earned points or rewards, status level, and member-exclusive offers and benefits.
Extending a duration of a promotion? Immediately update the expiration date so your customers know they have more time to take part in the offer.
Transform tickets into a dynamic mobile wallet pass where you can instantly let consumers know about unexpected changes, like a date change for an event and a gate change for a flight.
Never let your customers be inconvenienced again by not having their current health and auto insurance cards on them. With mobile wallet, you can continue to update the saved pass with the customer’s current policy information.
No matter the industry, mobile wallet plays an essential role in creating a seamless customer experience that will accelerate revenue growth and increase customer loyalty
Mobile Wallet Notifications
Just like a push notification a user receives from an app, mobile wallet can also deliver notifications to a user’s lock screen, giving you the ability to nudge your customers to act when they might not have otherwise.
These notifications can also be personalized down to the individual pass holder based on customer data and behavior.
Don’t consumers turn off their notifications?
Consumers have to go out of their way to turn mobile wallet notifications off. So, if you’re wondering how many consumers with a mobile wallet pass a notification will reach – the answer is pretty much 100%. Unlike other mobile apps where consumers can turn push notifications on or off for the app as a whole, mobile wallet notifications have to be manually managed by the consumer for each individual pass that’s saved to their mobile wallet.
Now let’s dive a little bit deeper into the different types of mobile wallet notifications:
Time-based
Time-based notifications can be delivered manually or can be set up for automated delivery, whichever option you may choose (and you have the choice). For example, if you’re a brand that has a Loyalty program with mobile wallet membership cards you can notify members if they have outstanding points or rewards that are expiring with enough time so they have a chance to redeem them.
Behavior-based
Behavior-based notifications can be set up to notify an individual customer or segment of customers about relevant information based on their previous activity. For example, if you are an insurance company and your customers have their insurance card saved to their mobile wallet you can automatically deliver important alerts, such as claims status notifications and payment reminders. By delivering these types of notifications directly to a lock screen the alerts can’t be missed, giving customers the confidence that their insurance company is always there when they need them to help manage their account.
Programmatic
When the content on saved mobile wallet passes is dynamically updated, follow up with a notification alerting the customer there is something new in their mobile wallet to check out. One of the key reasons why this type of notification is essential for all brands to use is because it helps accelerate new-user adoption of mobile wallet.
Think about a place like an airport and how common it is for shifts in an itinerary to occur before a passenger boards a plane. With mobile wallet notifications you can alert travelers that their gate has changed, their flight time has changed, and other imperative travel information that will also be conveniently reflected on their saved mobile wallet airline ticket.
Servicing reminders
With mobile wallet you can do so much more than just engage consumers with the objective of driving them to buy. More than just a promotional channel, mobile wallet is also a channel to help keep your customers informed and aware of details that require them to take action.
For example, let’s say a large portion of your audience opts for mail-order prescriptions. With a health care card saved to mobile wallet, you can notify patients when their prescription has shipped. And yes, the same idea is possible for those that pick up their prescriptions. Send out a wallet notification when a refill is ready to be picked up from their pharmacy, saving that patient valuable time and thus increasing their satisfaction with your brand.
Geolocation
Consumers want to receive information from you relevant to their location because convenience matters to them and is often the number one driver behind purchase decisions. Geolocation notifications are set to automatically deliver when a user is 100 meters or less away from a physical location. And like mobile wallet notifications, generally, mobile wallet geolocation cannot be turned off.
This precisely timed notification enables you to engage with customers at the most critical time, whether it’s deciding where to shop or prompting a purchase that might not otherwise have happened.
Geolocation is valuable regardless of the average purchase size or the length of a purchase cycle. Let’s say you’re a car dealership who wants to make sure a prospective buyer makes it into their dealership over your competitor in the lot next door. You can leverage mobile wallet to create dealership cards with all the relevant information you want your shoppers to have, automatically alerting them when they are close by.
Location coordinates can also be pre-defined in the event your strategy is to steal share from your competitor, meaning you could set up geolocation notifications to automatically send a personalized brand message when a shopper is near the competition.
Attribution for Measurement and Targeting
Several years ago, it was likely hit or miss when it came to companies having the right technology in place for customers to pay with their smartphone. But, since convenience and safety are now two of the biggest decision drivers motivating consumer shopping decisions, contactless is now ubiquitous. Mobile wallet is compatible with all POS technology. If you’re not so sure of this because you know there are scanning limitations with your POS terminals, mobile wallet offers a variety of barcode options to ensure passes can successfully be scanned. Since it’s easier these days for consumers to find and access a mobile wallet pass than digging through a pocket or searching in an app, the checkout process is dramatically streamlined.
However, it’s not just about the checkout process being easier. Mobile Wallet passes can be easily identified and tracked providing unique pass attribution, in-store or online, paving the way for a better understanding of the business impact mobile wallet has on your brand and offering a clear path to ROI analysis of your brand’s programs.
With Vibes, this level of attribution is made uniquely possible through our Secure SmartLink, a unique URL automatically generated for every mobile wallet pass that gets delivered to an individual customer. The Secure SmartLink tracks every action on that customer’s pass, from the initial viewing of the pass to the transaction where the offer is redeemed.
And, since mobile wallet passes can be tracked down to an individual customer level, you can also use this data for more targeted marketing, loyalty, and servicing messaging.
Security
This is always a top concern for both brands and consumers, especially when it comes to the sharing of personal information. Everyone can rest easy with mobile wallet because it was built with security and protection in mind.
The Vibes Secure SmartLink is not only built to track attribution, but also encoded with parameters that provide fraud protection for any redeemable pass meant to be used only once, like a coupon, offer, or ticket. This prevents customers from manipulating the Secure SmartLink to reuse an already-redeemed pass by deactivating the pass after use.
Mobile Wallet Activation Strategies
Across all the capabilities mobile wallet has to offer, the common theme is that mobile wallet gives you a new way to engage with your customers.
There is a myriad of ways you can activate mobile wallet as a channel for your brand and make the most impact on your customers.
Offers
A mobile wallet offer is a digital offer or coupon that can be redeemed in-store and online.
A mobile wallet offer can easily be distributed through any existing marketing channel – from in-store signage, print and TV advertising, and direct mail to lower-cost digital channels like SMS, email, web, social and your mobile app – the goal is to create a frictionless experience as customers engage with your brand.
To illustrate this further, let’s go on the journey with Jill and Kareem, two friends who love to shop everywhere, particularly with brands who offer promotions and coupons that are conveniently accessible and easy to redeem:
Mobile Wallet delivery
Jill and Kareem are both subscribed to the same retailer’s SMS list to receive marketing and promotional content from this brand. They both receive a text about a limited time, 20% off coupon with a URL included in the message to view and save the offer to their mobile wallet.
Dynamic content driven by user action
Jill clicks and saves her offer right away, but Kareem clicks to save his offer a few days after receiving the text, and this brand wants to give their consumers the same amount of time to redeem this offer.
With mobile wallet, Kareem’s redemption period doesn’t have to be cut short. Since mobile wallet content can be built to dynamically personalize a pass, they are both granted a 30-day expiration window from the moment they clicked to save their mobile wallet offer.
Geolocation
When Jill is near one of the brand’s physical stores, the pass saved to her mobile wallet uses geolocation to automatically send a notification reminding her that her offer is still redeemable. Appreciating the friendly reminder, Jill is motivated to visit that nearby store, which results in her making a purchase.
Post-purchase targeted messaging
Two weeks later, Jill receives a mobile wallet notification that there’s a flash sale, and it’s for certain products that would pair nicely with her original purchase – she swipes open that notification and her original pass reflects this new promotion and promotion details. Jill will soon learn that her pass is regularly updated with personalized offers and promotions, receiving mobile wallet notifications directly on her lock screen so that, with just one swipe, she lands right on the newly updated mobile wallet pass.
Drive more mobile app usage
Now let’s say, Jill and Kareem both have the brand’s mobile app that delivers offers directly into their app inbox. They’re pleasantly surprised to see that the app now offers them the ability to save these offers to their mobile wallet because it makes the offer redemption process at checkout smoother. Instead of 3 clicks and 1 swipe, all while requiring an Internet connection, to find their offer in their app, the offer is easily accessible in their mobile wallet with just one swipe of their geolocation notification, or a double tap to the side of their phone.
Additionally, Kareem’s most visited store has poor cell service and weak Wi-Fi, which is troublesome when he has an offer in his app but has no service to access it when checking out. With mobile wallet Kareem can be worry-free. Once a pass is saved directly to a user’s device it can be accessed and scanned without any connectivity required.
Why this matters for brands
Thanks to mobile wallet you can always keep your customers up to date on the latest promotions, new products in stock, flash sales, and limited time offers based on their purchase history, all of which deepens their brand loyalty and motivates them to shop more frequently with you over the competition. The seamless customer experience can also result in them buying more from you in a single shopping trip. If you’re a brand with any type of offer or promotional strategy, mobile wallet provides an immense opportunity to increase how often a customer shops with you, and how much they spend during each visit.
Loyalty Cards
A mobile wallet Loyalty card is a digital version of a physical membership card. In addition to the pass reflecting the member’s key account details, it can be regularly updated in real time to reflect account activity such as points earned, progress to a new reward and personalized, Loyalty-specific content.
As previously stated about how easily a mobile wallet pass can be distributed through any existing marketing channel, Loyalty cards can also be distributed to current members without requiring them to download or sign up for anything additional.
The following journeys with two different customers, Lisa and Doug, illustrate how a Loyalty card can effectively engage both new and existing members.
DOUG’S STORY
Doug is a business professional who dines at a fast casual Mexican Grill chain intermittently but is not currently a loyal customer and can also be swayed to dine at other Mexican restaurants that are conveniently near his place of work.
Instant Loyalty card delivery, from anywhere
No matter if it’s inside the restaurant or through their website or mobile app, there are a variety of ways the restaurant promotes signing up for their Rewards program and receive a digital Loyalty card. The restaurant can expand their promotional reach to any existing marketing channel because, no matter the channel, the digital Loyalty card can easily and successfully be delivered.
While looking at their menu online, Doug is prompted to sign up for their Rewards program where he will immediately earn points and free chips & guac just for enrolling. He enrolls through a digital webform and is asked if he’d like to receive his digital Loyalty card via email or a text message. He prefers a text message. Upon hitting ‘Submit’ to complete his online enrollment he’s immediately sent the Loyalty card URL to download via SMS, and Doug’s newly created membership profile, points earned and progress towards earning his next reward are all reflected on his card. Pleased by the convenient process of signing up and receiving his digital Loyalty card, Doug promptly heads to the restaurant to redeem his offer as a newly enrolled member.
Track activity and behavior for more precise, targeted messaging
Thanks to the tracking and attribution capabilities of mobile wallet, the restaurant’s Loyalty management system now recognizes Doug’s membership and can target him based on future purchases and other demographic data collected during the enrollment process. Find this communication highly relevant, Doug is driven to go and eat at this restaurant regularly, thus earning more points that can be redeemed for rewards and creating virtuous cycle.
For instance, three days after redeeming his initial offer, Doug receives a mobile wallet notification that if he dines in that same day he can earn 2x the points on his total order and can redeem a free drink. But not just any free drink, it’s the same drink he purchased in his last visit when he redeemed his free chips & guac.
If Doug had not installed the pass the Secure SmartLink would have tracked that as well. For those unresponsive customers, like Doug, you can send a follow-up text to those who did not install reminding them to save the pass to their mobile wallet and the benefits they’ll enjoy.
Update points balance in real time
Immediately after Doug scans his Loyalty card at checkout to redeem his offer, Doug’s card updates to reflect his new points balance and current progress towards his next reward. Doug quickly learns that he can count on his digital Loyalty card to always reflect his most current account details and that he can easily access it right on his phone without repeated logins and cumbersome searches through an email or app inbox required.
Drive more mobile app downloads
Mobile wallet can help brands expand the reach of their mobile app immediately with a single tap. Any saved pass can incorporate a call-to-action to tap and download the brand’s app and then immediately display the app store listing. This entire process also happens without taking users out of the mobile wallet app.
Doug did not know the restaurant had an app until he saved his Loyalty card to his phone. He notices on the back of his card there’s a ‘Get App’ call-to-action button, and upon clicking he is taken to the app store listing where he clicks and downloads the app.
LISA’S STORY
Lisa is a current Rewards member of the same fast casual Italian restaurant. As a frequent diner she often takes advantage of the perks of being a Rewards member, including deals and freebies, when she’s earned enough points.
Mobile Wallet delivery from any channel
For existing Rewards members like Lisa, she could be sent her digital loyalty card in one of her preferred communication channels like SMS, or she can access and download it directly from her online account.
Always-on notifications directly on lock screen
As Lisa’s nearing the restaurant, she’s sent a mobile wallet notification because she has the Rewards card saved to her mobile wallet. Like Lisa, any member who has their Loyalty card saved to their mobile wallet has it on them all of the time, and a feature like geolocation will can be set to always trigger out a notification, enabling an alwayson brand presence as you notify your customers anytime, they’re nearby a location.
Pair with mobile payments
Through the orchestration of your Loyalty system, your payment terminals, and Apple and Google, mobile wallet can communicate with Lisa’s mobile payment method (Apple Pay or Google Pay) in real time so when she’s paying she can also redeem or acquire any Loyalty points she’s earned, at the same time, without switching to and scanning the loyalty card. Further streamlining the checkout process.
Why this matters for brands
Keeping members like Doug and Lisa up to date on their points balance, rewards progress and available reward reminders will drive an increase in purchase frequency. And, the targeted messaging capabilities that come with mobile wallet ensures that you always provide relevant messaging to keep your most loyal customers interacting and engaging with your brands even more.
Beyond the expected increase in sales and customer satisfaction that mobile wallet drives, getting members to redeem their loyalty points or rewards benefits companies financially in another way. Outstanding rewards and points are captured as liabilities on the balance sheet, so by increasing customer redemption companies improve the health of their balance sheets.
ID Cards
Offers and membership cards aren’t the only types of plastic shifting to digital. As more consumers say they don’t need nor want a physical wallet anymore, you can take advantage of mobile wallet to also digitize certain forms of identification, such as business cards, proof of insurance cards, and in some states even drivers’ licenses.
Readily accessible at a moment’s notice
Digital ID cards can securely house all the same information that is on a physical card, while making more readily accessible, which can be particularly advantageous when a consumer needs to present proof-of-insurance details promptly. Like proof of auto insurance when a driver is stopped by the police. Nobody wants to be digging through a glove compartment or bag searching for a plastic ID that could just as easily be at home.
Immediate delivery in any marketing channel
With digital ID cards, delivery is immediate and can be distributed through any existing marketing channel that has or points to a URL. And once the ID is saved on a person’s phone the risk of misplacing it becomes almost nil.
Continuous up-to-date coverage
Unlike static plastic cards, digital ID cards allow for immediate updates to reflect the most up-to-date information. As an example, for insurance companies this means no more waiting for new cards to come in the mail and risking a possible lapse in proof. Instead, brands that enable mobile wallet for ID cards can help make sure a customer’s policy never expires or lapses so that the customer always remains covered.
Why this matters for brands
Not only does mobile wallet offer a new level of convenience to your customers, it also provides you the opportunity to manage and service your customers more efficiently with more targeted content. By collecting profile and behavioral data, you can use it to message them about the proper information and services you deliver to each individual customer at the right journey stage and at the right time.
Servicing Passes
Let’s talk about two prime examples of using mobile wallet for servicing instead of purchasing: Buy Online Pick-up In Store (BOPIS) / Buy Online Pick-up At Curbside (BOPAC) and Appointment Reminders.
BOPIS / BOPAC
For customers who take advantage of buying products online and picking them up at a physical location, they want convenience and speed. By opting for this fulfillment option, they are aiming to save time by eliminating online order delivery wait times, but they also expect to save time during the pickup process.
With mobile wallet you can offer customers the ability to easily save a mobile wallet pass that includes their order identifiers and streamlines their order pickup experience.
Delivering a mobile wallet pickup pass
Most brands today deliver the relevant pickup details via email, but often those emails get buried in a customer’s inbox almost as quickly as they receive them. These same order details that are emailed can live on a mobile wallet pass and be delivered through text.
This is not to suggest you should abandon your email communication. In fact, you can enhance your email communication by using it as a delivery mechanism for the pickup pass by simply including the mobile wallet URL. This gives your customers options for how they can choose to access their order details.
Keep customers informed every step of the way
Keep fulfilling your customer’s need for a speedier, more convenient order pickup process.
Keep customers updated by sending automated mobile wallet notifications, so they know the status of their order and when an item is ready to be picked up. And through geolocation, customers can be prompted on their phone’s lock screen when they’re within 100 meters to immediately open the mobile wallet pass with their order details for easy verification with the store associate.
Appointment Reminders
Consumers are most loyal to brands who demonstrate that they have their back even after a purchase has been made. With mobile wallet you can provide the same level of convenience and accessibility to relevant information that customers need postpurchase.
Take automotive brands, for example, where the purchase cycle is particularly long. Staying top of mind with owners is essential the second they drive off the lot, and often the next owner touchpoint will be when their vehicle needs service. With mobile wallet you can help an owner never forget when it’s time to come in for a checkup and ensure it’s at the dealership.
A dealership can send a mobile wallet pass with an estimate of the first oil change that’s due. Once the pass is saved, the dealership can send reminder notifications to make sure they come in for their service.
When the vehicle is approaching its next service milestone, like a tire rotation, the dealership can update the pass with the new relevant details and can send another mobile wallet notification to alert the owner they have a new estimate waiting for their review in their mobile wallet.
Gift Cards
Showing an appreciation and saying thank you with a gift card is thoughtful but delivering the gift card in the form of mobile wallet is the gift that keeps on giving. A mobile wallet gift card can reflect the same details of a physical gift card, but without the risk of the recipient misplacing it. And since the saved gift card is likely to stay on the phone, you have the opportunity to reach these customers even after their gift card funds are at $0.
Instant mobile wallet delivery
When it comes to a gift card it’s imperative that it successfully reaches the intended recipient. With mobile wallet, instant delivery of the gift card can be achieved anywhere a brand can add a URL – in an email, in their mobile app, in a text message, and on their website.
A gift customers will never lose
Common instances where customers can easily be disappointed are during travel, be it a sudden flight cancellation or a hotel room that did not meet expectations.
You can instantly alleviate that dissatisfaction by sending the customer a $50 gift card to spend on their next flight or hotel they book. You can text it to them so it’s readily available for them to save to their mobile wallet, guaranteed to reach the customer within seconds.
If a gift card could be the difference of incentivizing a customer to purchase when they may not have done so otherwise, mobile wallet makes it easy for brands to deliver the gift card directly to the consumer’s personal device, and once saved on a phone they won’t risk misplacing it.
Why this matters for brands
Gift cards often incentivize incremental purchases that would not have been made otherwise, so lost gift cards mean additional revenue lost. Knowing that a mobile wallet gift card will be stored and easily accessible for consumers to use, while giving you a new channel to send timely reminders about redeeming their gift cards are the driving factors that will get them to buy.
Mobile Tickets
Mobile wallet eliminates the need to carry physical tickets, making it an ideal space for customers to house their concert tickets, airline tickets, hotel confirmations, and raffle tickets. Once a customer saves the pass to their mobile wallet it’s safe from getting lost or stolen. But the convenience and reliability factor for customers is just scratching the surface.
The most recognized example of this is a boarding pass at the airport. Mobile wallet meets travelers in real time to update them if there is a flight delay or gate change. And because saved passes remain on the phone even after a customer uses it, you now have the ability to seamlessly update those passes with new, targeted content ensuring your brand remains top of mind.
We can see the advantages mobile wallet has when used by Elena who, over a month ago, purchased event tickets for her sister’s birthday to an exclusive, limited-time concert.
Timely, personalized mobile wallet delivery from anywhere
Mobile wallet tickets can be delivered from anywhere you can put a URL. They can be saved to a user’s device directly from a mobile app, be delivered through email, and sent through a text message. All you have to do is determine what channel you want to deliver the passes in and when, and the delivery will be successful.
But instant delivery doesn’t have to mean that mobile wallet passes should only be delivered mere minutes before a customer needs them. Help your customers proactively prepare for their upcoming event by delivering their mobile wallet tickets to be saved ahead of time. This offers more convenient, guaranteed access to the ticket over a ticket living in a customer’s mobile app or email inbox.
Additionally, if the customer is somewhere where cell service is poor and there’s weak Wi-Fi, and the ticket is only available in an app or email, the customer will be challenged when retrieving their ticket. With mobile wallet customers can be worryfree. Once a pass is saved directly to their phone it can be accessed and scanned without any connectivity required.
In Elena’s case, two days before the scheduled event the tickets were emailed to her with the option to click to add to her mobile wallet. Once saved to her wallet her and her sister’s tickets are now conveniently accessible with the details they’ll need to get into the event as well as when arriving at the event: event date & time, event address, and a unique barcode with their unique event IDs that can easily be scanned for entrance upon arrival.
Integrate with calendar app
Mobile wallet makes it simple for you to link directly from the pass itself to any landing page or endpoint. For something like an upcoming trip or event, you can make your customers lives even easier by saving them the step of manually adding these details to their calendar.
Elena was quite pleased to see that her mobile wallet tickets offer her the option to save the event in her native calendar app on her phone with a single click.
Real-time pass updates & reminders
Plans can change. There can be rain delays, flight cancellations, gate changes, venue changes, and other unexpected shifts.
When Elena suddenly realizes she’s double booked the day of the event, her mobile wallet ticket gives her a link to easily click to reschedule at a later date. Upon changing her and her sister’s date, their event passes are immediately updated to reflect the new date and time.
Easily identify different ticket packages
While in line Elena happens to notice that some of the other tickets are a different color than her and her sister’s. Turns out that Elena’s co-worker purchased a VIP ticket, whereas she had gifted her sister with two general admission tickets.
Post-event targeted content
By having her ticket saved to her mobile wallet, Elena now receives recommendations for similar events in her area and consistently gets notified about upcoming promotions and packages.
Additional Benefits of Mobile Wallet Tickets
There’s also increased security to prevent ticket fraud because mobile wallet tickets can’t be stolen or fraudulently manipulated the way paper tickets can.
Activating tickets through mobile wallet opens the door to valuable data that you will be able to use to effectively retarget customers about future events, promotions and other personalized content.
Key Takeaways: The power mobile wallet drives for brands
No matter the activation strategy, brands that activate mobile wallet benefit from the channel in ways that creates a long-lasting relationship with their customers.
Convenience and safety: If you could make your brand synonymous with the top benefits consumers care about, convenience and safety are it. Mobile wallet passes are easily accessible, simple to use, and completely contactless providing customers an ideal experience.
Locked into the customer’s consideration set: Once a pass is saved to a customer’s device it often stays there, giving you an alwayson brand presence with those customers in a place that is easy for them to find and access.
Persistent, engaging communication channel: Mobile wallet gives you the ability to continuously engage customers with lock screen push notifications they’ll always see and since the pass itself is completely dynamic, gives you the power to continuously update individual passes with new, targeted content.
Drives increased customer satisfaction and incremental purchases: The dynamic nature of the mobile wallet pass plus the ability to send timely, relevant reminders ensures your customers are always aware of actions they need to take, from redeeming outstanding Loyalty points to appointment reminders.
Expanded digital reach: Mobile wallet can be delivered anywhere there’s a URL, which helps brands amplify their existing marketing channels.
Weaving Mobile Wallet Into Your Mobile Engagement Program
To drive awareness of your brand and help stay top-of-mind, start by opting customers into an SMS list. This is not to say you abandon your other marketing channels to pair with mobile wallet. However, SMS is already a personal, conversational channel, so customers are extremely receptive to engaging with brands through text messaging.
Since SMS is inherently mobile and there’s a 98% open rate for text messages plus a 50% response rate within three minutes, it provides a seamless customer experience for delivering mobile wallet passes.
If you’re keeping score, customers only have to opt-in once, and you get two valuable, engaging channels to reach your customers with SMS and mobile wallet.
In addition, the SMS and mobile wallet channels offer complementary segmentation and targeting capabilities to enable you to reach customers only in one channel, or in both depending on the urgency of the message.
Another advantage of a saved mobile wallet pass is that individual passes can be updated to reflect new promotions and content without needing to send another message to the customer nor requiring them to have to sign up for anything additional.
And if you’re trying to drive your customer to make a purchase, mobile wallet eliminates steps to streamline the purchase process. Instead of sending your customers to search various inboxes or input different passwords, mobile wallet is accessible with one tap or one swipe.
What if a I have mobile app?
Mobile Wallet doesn’t replace or compete with the value of a brand’s mobile app. Rather mobile wallet provides tremendous value in the ways it complements mobile apps by making the customer experience more convenient and providing you with easily accessible, persistent communication channel. And even with the most sophisticated and widely used app, you could still be missing customers that mobile wallet can help you reach.
Mobile Wallet notifications can’t be turned off
But an app’s push notifications can be turned off rather easily, and once a customer turns them off it’s much more difficult to get them turned back on. The native mobile wallet app is unique in that push notifications sent through cannot be turned off.
Mobile Wallet passes are easier to find and access
Two taps to reach a saved pass, versus six taps and two swipes to reach that same information in an app. And this convenience factor is applicable to more than just finding an offer, it is just as valuable if you want to surface and summarize key messages you need your customer to see. No opening and searching through an app required.
Mobile Wallet can cross-promote an app to help increase downloads
Of the many dynamic content capabilities mobile wallet has, it includes an option to add to prompt pass holder to download your mobile app.
Mobile Wallet does not require any internet connection
If a customer is having a tech issue like a poor signal or is in an area that has poor or no connectivity, they won’t be able to access your app. Mobile wallet can reach these customers because it’s native to all devices and saved passes do not require any cell service.
Mobile wallet, in conjunction with SMS, Push notifications and mobile app inbox bring more consumers into a program, while also driving a deeper connection by also serving as a communication channel for rewards, points updates and memberexclusive benefits.
Mobile Wallet Impact On Key Industries
Many of the different mobile wallet activation strategies described earlier can apply across industries. Based on your specific industry, here are ways you can activate those different strategies to reach your audience.
Retail and Restaurants: Offers
Incentivizes more in-store traffic
Mobile Wallet gives you the ability to deliver unique offers through any digital channel to incentivize shoppers to make a purchase. It’s very simple to include “in-store only” prominently on the pass to ensure customers are aware the offer cannot be redeemed online.
For customers close to a physical location, activating geolocation with mobile wallet gives you the power to deliver relevant, timely notifications to shoppers that will entice them to come into the store and shop.
Of course, you could also do the reverse and drive online purchasing, as well.
In-store attribution
All retailers today can track their online attribution, but with mobile wallet you can also track unique mobile wallet pass transactions giving you in-store attribution, too, helping you better understand not only the impact mobile wallet has on overall sales, but also your overall mobile program.
Less wasted marketing spend
Mobile wallet’s ability to track customer behavior gives you the ability to deliver more targeted marketing and loyalty messages. For every mobile wallet notification you send and every update you make to a saved pass you’ll get a better ROI because you’re less likely to send follow-up content that isn’t relevant. Timely, relevant content increases the likelihood of repeat purchases, and it is far more cost-effective than mass marketing.
Retail and Restaurants: Loyalty Cards
Increased program enrollment
79% of U.S. consumers say they are more likely to join a Loyalty rewards program that doesn’t require them to carry a physical card. If you marry this with the fact that 75% of Loyalty program members would actively engage with a Loyalty rewards program if they could access the program easily from their smartphone, then mobile wallet is the obvious answer for brands who want to enroll new Loyalty members (and keep them).
Higher redemption rates
Loyalty programs have proven to be a key lever in helping brands establish quality relationships with each individual customer by tailoring to their specific needs, leading to higher conversion and retention rates. With mobile wallet you will further increase both your conversion and retention rates because customers receive more personalized content and are more incentivized to shop with brands who make it convenient and easy for them to do so.
The increased convenience includes aspects like:
- The member’s ability to understand their points balance and available rewards in real time, immediately after they make a purchase
- Being able to pay for their purchase and earn points in a single transaction at POS
- Enable members’ to easily discover their available benefits and offers
Improves the company’s balance sheet
Loyalty program liability can be a hazardous state for companies that results from the accumulation of unredeemed loyalty points. The higher redemption rates driven by mobile wallet for loyalty programs ensures the company’s balance sheet stays healthy
Retail and Restaurants: Servicing Passes
Increases customer loyalty
Mobile wallet improves the customer order and fulfillment experience, which is just as important to consumers as receiving incentives to shop. If you streamline the process surrounding a purchase, you will drive more customers to buy from you versus the competition.
Increases customer and staff safety
Through contactless pickup in store or curbside.
Maintain a continued brand presence on mobile devices
Even with a service pass, if it is not removed by the customer, the pass enables continued mobile wallet notifications, while maintaining a visual place on their mobile device.
Retail and Restaurants: Gift Cards
Increases brand awareness
Gift cards are an effective tactic to broaden the reach of your customer base, incentivizing them to shop with you when they may not have previously. With a mobile wallet gift card, you’re not only acquiring new customers, but you now have a persistent messaging channel to deliver relevant content to them that will result in repeat purchases.
Drives consumer behavior
The instantaneous delivery that mobile wallet provides plus how easy it is to access directly on your phone further incentivizes recipients to shop with their newly installed gift card. Additionally, because of the tracking power that mobile wallet has and how that gift card is now always on the recipient’s phone, you can continually message them with new content to drive repeat purchases.
Need to drive more traffic from existing customers? Reward them with a newly replenished gift card and notify them they have new funds for their next shopping trip. You can also time this update and notification to deploy before a big shopping weekend or tied to a promotion that would appeal to them based on their past purchases.
Want to re-engage those that haven’t shopped since their initial gift card funds ran out? Update their saved gift card with new funds and notify them their gift card has been replenished.
Increases customer satisfaction
The modern day customer expects two things from retailers: Reduced friction and instant gratification. With mobile wallet you can instantly delight your customer with the immediate delivery of the gift card to their phones, and further reduce friction with the contactless payment option at checkout. In other words, by sending your customers their gift cards via mobile wallet, you’re also sending them the message that you treat your customers with the gratitude they deserve.
Travel and Hospitality: Offers
Drives expanded use of products and services
By presenting guests with timely, convenient offers during their trip you can more easily incentivize them to increase their spend, like buying another product or service at the local spa and purchasing an additional room upgrade.
Mobile Wallet gives you the option to tie the offer to a specific product or service, or you can just offer guests a dollar amount that they can spend. And, with the dynamic real estate mobile wallet provides you can use the pass to inform guests about what items they can spend their offer on.
Increases brand awareness and repeat purchases
With the data mobile wallet allows you to effectively track, you can send relevant promotional content and incentives that motivate customers to book new travel, rebook lodging, and purchase additional upgrades.
Improves pre and post travel engagement
Because of timely content delivered through pass updates and mobile wallet notifications, guests will always have the most up-to-date information about their upcoming travel, from trip notifications to flash sales and service promotions.
Less wasted marketing spend
With mobile wallet’s ability to track unique mobile wallet pass attribution, it will help you learn more about your customers and enables more precise targeted marketing. Every mobile wallet notification you send and every update you make to saved passes are guaranteed to be more relevant to drive more purchases more often.
Travel and Hospitality: Loyalty Cards
Increases program engagement
Mobile Wallet makes it easier than ever for members to access their membership ID and other pertinent details that are required for accessing one’s account. You can also leverage mobile wallet to conveniently remind members to use their Loyalty points, how to use them, and what the benefits are to using them.
Increases program enrollment
79% of U.S. consumers say they are more likely to join a Loyalty rewards program that doesn’t require them to carry a physical card. If you marry this with the fact that 75% of Loyalty program members would actively engage with a Loyalty rewards program if they could access the program easily from their smartphone, then mobile wallet is the obvious answer for brands who want to enroll new Loyalty members (and keep them).
Higher conversion rates
Convert inactive members into more active members by using mobile wallet to persistently message them about outstanding Loyalty points, rewards earned, how to redeem rewards, and member-exclusive offers.
Travel and Hospitality: Travel Itinerary Passes
Delivers a better customer experience
Mobile Wallet gives you the ability to help your customers before, during and after their trip.
Before: You can help them plan ahead for their trip and keep them abreast of important changes and updates along the way so they’re never caught off guard.
During: Your customers will have peace of mind at check-in because they conveniently have their travel itinerary details accessible. Immediately deliver them another pass for them to download their room key, making the check-in process even more seamless and completely contactless.To enhance the check-in experience even further you can deliver personalized welcome messages directly to the saved pass, as well as make recommendations throughout their trip.
After: Mobile Wallet makes things like customer satisfaction surveys easier to deliver by putting a link directly on the pass that customers can access with just one click.
Increases customer loyalty
By providing customers with the convenience of always having their travel details accessible at a moment’s notice, offering a more seamless check-in and checkout experience, and delivering relevant travel recommendations for subsequent trips, customers are happy you’re staying in touch.
Travel and Hospitality: Gift Cards
Increases brand awareness
Gift cards are an effective tactic to broaden the reach of your customer base, incentivizing them to travel with you when they may not have previously. With a mobile wallet gift card, you’re not only acquiring new customers, but you now have a persistent messaging channel to deliver relevant content to them that will result in repeat purchases.
Drives consumer behavior
The instantaneous delivery that mobile wallet provides plus how easy it is to access directly on your phone further incentivizes recipients to shop with their newly installed gift card. Additionally, because of the tracking power that mobile wallet has and how that gift card is now always on the recipient’s phone, you can continually message them with new content to drive repeat purchases.
Want to re-engage those that haven’t traveled or made any purchases since their initial gift card funds ran out? Update their saved gift card with new funds and notify them their gift card has been replenished for an upcoming flash sale.
Increases customer satisfaction
The modern day traveler expects two things in order to have a great trip experience: Reduced friction and instant gratification. With mobile wallet you can instantly delight your customer with the immediate delivery of the gift card to their phones, and further reduce friction with the contactless payment option anywhere they shop during their stay. By sending your customers their gift cards via mobile wallet, you’re also sending them the message that you accommodate your customers the ways that they deserve.
Healthcare: Medical Savings Cards
Increases patient satisfaction
Cardholders can be reminded of available savings for their upcoming Rx, and reminder messages can be automatically sent out when each individual patient needs more medicine.
Drives patient retention
Mobile Wallet makes it easy to integrate with the pharmacy itself and affiliated services like healthcare clinics to make it possible to recommend relevant products and services to patients.
You can also use the saved card to help them lead a healthier lifestyle over time, sending them content about ways to manage their condition, local support groups and how to sign up for them, and other pertinent information.
Healthcare: ID Cards
Protected PHI
Mobile wallet encrypts information to keep it protected. Plus, privacy concerns from human error become obsolete because while any plastic card can easily be misplaced, a saved mobile wallet pass remains in a user’s mobile wallet and stays there.
Builds stronger patient relationships
Because the pass is now always on a patient’s phone where you can continually message them with new, relevant content. This enables you to increase a patient’s awareness of products and services they need to lead a healthier lifestyle over time. Send ways to manage their conditions, support groups and where to find them.
Preventative care
Send out timely reminders to patients to get their flu shot, COVID-19 vaccine, and other important inoculations, where appointments are available and how to schedule an appointment.
You can also leverage the dynamic real estate on the saved ID cards to make recommendations to patients for how to prepare for an upcoming appointment and what they can do afterwards to best manage possible side effects.
Healthcare: Servicing Passes
More relevant and timely appointment notifications
Mobile Wallet enables you to be there for all of your patients when they have an upcoming doctor visit, from automatically sending upcoming reminder messages, previsit information, and how to cancel or reschedule instructions.
Better patient outcomes
Mobile Wallet makes it easier for you to remind your patients about the do’s and don’ts prior to an upcoming appointment or operation.
For patients who are having an upcoming operation you can include the preparation instructions that are easy for them to access right on their phone. Then you can help patients further prepare by sending follow-up reminders to make sure the preparation was done.
You can continue being there for your patients by sending them important post-visit information, including medical visit summaries, test results, links to patient satisfaction surveys, and more. With mobile wallet, you can more precisely target each patient with content and messages that are tied to their most recent visit or last action taken, all of which is geared towards helping your patients lead a healthier lifestyle over time.
Financial Services: Program Rewards Passes
Modernizes program participation and cross-selling
The majority of consumers pay with their credit card through a contactless option like Apple Pay and Google Pay. You can take advantage of them already using the payments side of mobile wallet to prompt them to download a Rewards card tied to their specific credit card. Once it’s saved to their phone you can message them about new rewards that have come in, and how to use earned points for travel, dining and shopping.
Since mobile wallet is an always-on communication channel once it’s saved to a phone, you can take advantage of this real estate to update and message your customers about bundling promotions, cross-sell additional products or services, send appointment reminders for upcoming financial consultations, and other relevant content based on the customer’s current status.
Financial Services: Insurance ID Cards
Improves customer engagement and retention
Mobile wallet makes it simpler and more convenient for your members to access their information as well as information for frequently used services. By being more knowledgeable of what’s available to them, members are more likely to engage.
With mobile wallet your customers will never miss seeing important information about their account, from claims notifications to upcoming payment reminders.
Automotive: Offers
Incentives
For consumers that need a special offer to incentivize them to make a new purchase, send it their way as a mobile wallet offer so it’s conveniently saved to their phone. That way, no matter how long their shopping journey may be the offer will always be easily accessible.
Forms brand interest and favorability
With dynamic mobile wallet passes, prospective buyers will be able to easily save any information they might need prior to making a purchase like vehicle features, dealership information and inventory pricing. And with real-time updates that can be made to any pass, the shopper will always have the most up-to-date information at all times, having that brand top-of-mind through to purchase.
Automotive: Ownership Loyalty Cards
Builds stronger relationships with vehicle owners
Increasing the awareness of products and services owners need in order to get the most out of their vehicle. When owners are approaching the end of an ownership cycle they can receive updated content on their pass that supports a new purchase.
Improves customer lifetime value
Mobile wallet is a constant messaging channel that makes it easier than ever for brands to remain top of mind with customers. The more relevant the communication, whether it’s about new product inventory or upcoming services, the more you’re motivating customers to make more purchases and continuously engage.
Drives more revenue
The data mobile wallet tracks, both demographic and behavioral, will help you target your customers in the most relevant way and at the right times, improving their overall customer experience. If a customer’s experience is positive, you significantly improve customer satisfaction and turn these customers into brand loyalists.
Automotive: Digital Business Cards
Easy access to preferred dealership
A simple digital / mobile business card that is easy for the customer to obtain, and doesn’t require anything from them. This gives the customer access to information they want and allows them to research prior to purchase.
Builds authentic shopper and dealer relationships
Using mobile wallet as a tool to give shoppers the information they want and need without them having to provide their contact information until they’re ready. In turn, shoppers will begin to rely on their pass to assist them in making purchasing decisions.
Creates momentum as consumers actively shop
Most car shoppers want access to more information before they start visiting dealerships, doing test drives and taking any other necessary steps to make a decision on if they’ll make a purchase or not. Mobile Wallet makes it easy to give shoppers direct access to their dealership on their terms, plus the dynamic capability of the pass enables dealerships to update the cards with relevant content for shoppers ahead of their visit.