Procter & Gamble (P&G) is preparing to distribute its first coupons via mobile phone by working with tech start-up Mobeam that enables retail point-of-sales systems to successfully read a barcode that has been downloaded onto a mobile phone screen. Physical coupons are a massive part of P&G’s business but do not translate easily to mobile phones because supermarket scanners struggle to read downloaded coupons on mobile screens. Mobeam’s technology is designed to fix this shortcoming. Otherwise a mobile coupon has to be manually entered by cashiers which slows down the checkout queue.  

A rare exception to the struggles of mobile couponing has been Starbucks’ successful app-based payment and coupon service but the coffee shop owner had to replace all its in-store scanners to ensure the app worked. Mobeam’s technology certainly has its admirers. Two months ago it raised venture money to further develop its technology.