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Loopt’s new Reward Alerts app lets you know when you’re close to a deal.<\/b><\/span>\nBy David Goldman<\/a>, staff writer<\/span>March 1, 2011: 1:33 PM ET<\/span>
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NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Addicted to discounts? They’re about to leap out of your e-mail and onto your mobile phone — right as you’re walking past the shop that wants to lure you in with a deal.<\/p>\n
AT&T (T<\/a>, Fortune 500<\/a>) and location-based app Loopt both unveiled similar, rival technologies this week that will allow businesses to send location-specific offers directly to consumers’ phones.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n It’s an idea that has long been discussed, but, until now, hasn’t gotten much traction. Location-targeted ads could be a goldmine for businesses — and a hit with consumers who don’t want to deal with expiration dates or planning their coupon strategy in advance. <\/p>\n “Context is everything in mobile advertising, and getting the right offer at the right time and place increases consumers’ likelihood of taking action,” says eMarketer principal analyst Noah Elkin. <\/p>\n Here’s how it works:<\/b> Loopt’s Reward Alerts application will send participating Android and iPhone users notifications that a deal is immediately available in their area. Loopt customers would then need to present their phone message to a retailer to redeem the offer. <\/p>\n The service will launch at next month’s South By Southwest (SXSW) gathering in Austin, where Loopt is beginning with a dozen partners, including Microsoft (MSFT<\/a>, Fortune 500<\/a>), Southwest Airlines (LUV<\/a>, Fortune 500<\/a>), Fox, Tivo (TIVO<\/a>), Gilt City, and OkCupid.<\/p>\n AT&T’s ShopAlerts system will work slightly differently. The network’s customers will be able to opt in to receiving location-based deals by text message — which means the service won’t be limited to smartphone customers. Users will either be directed to a mobile website where they can redeem the deal or, like Loopt, they will be told to redeem it at a local establishment.<\/p>\n The carrier’s launch partners include Hewlett-Packard (HPQ<\/a>, Fortune 500<\/a>), Kmart, JetBlue (JBLU<\/a>), SC Johnson, Kibbles ‘n Bits, Nature’s Recipe and the National Milk Mustache’s “Got Milk?” campaign.<\/p>\n What it means: <\/b>With only a handful of businesses participating at launch, neither AT&T’s service nor Loopt’s app are going to instantly change the way businesses advertise or consumers make their shopping decisions. <\/p>\n But if the services grow, that kind of big change is possible.<\/p>\n For local businesses, location-based ads could help fill an immediate need. A restaurant has empty tables? It could send out a location-based alert with a 10% off coupon for that evening. A pet store has on oversupply of dog food? It could let people in the area know that Puppy Chow is half-off.<\/p>\n For national brands, the alerts could add enough convenience to get customers to make impulse purchases. Unlike coupons, which rely on consumers going through many steps — finding the coupon, clipping it and remembering to take it to the store before it expires — a deal for a particular nearby product could motivate shoppers to buy it immediately.<\/p>\n AT&T could be the catalyst: <\/b>Location-based targeted ads haven’t gotten off the ground because most services like Foursquare or Gowalla make their users actively check into a location to get a deal, if one is available. Users have to download the app, know that a bargain is being offered, go to the location and check in. <\/p>\n The other problem is that location-based services aren’t well known the general public. Foursquare is by far the largest of the bunch with 6 million users, and Loopt is the third runner-up. A recent Pew Research Center study<\/a> found that just 4% of online adults use these “geosocial” sites. <\/p>\n Industry players say that AT&T’s move could give this kind of service the backing that it needs to get off the ground.<\/p>\n “Having a major carrier on board for a geo-targeted program will give cautious marketers more confidence about moving ad dollars to mobile channels,” Elkin said. <\/p>\n Danielle Lee, vice president of ad product innovation for AT&T, said her company isn’t trying to compete with Loopt or other location-based services — but it isn’t looking to partner with them either.<\/p>\n Loopt’s leaders say they’re confident they can outmaneuver the giants coveting their turf. <\/p>\n “Traditionally, if you had to bet on an upstart or a carrier, you bet on an upstart,” said Sam Altman, Loopt’s CEO. “Tech companies tend to do tech best.”\u00a0 First Published: March 1, 2011: 1:30 PM ET<\/p>\n <\/div>\n<\/p>\n![\"To](\"http:\/\/i.cdn.turner.com\/money\/images\/bug.gif\")
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