UK frozen food specialist Iceland has become the first national retailer to trial mobile wallet technology with in-store redeemable mobile discount vouchers installed on more than 20,000 devices.

The promotion has driven nearly £500,000 (US$635,117) of in-store sales and increased the average basket value by 5% compared with traditional paper vouchers.

The firm partnered with UK start-up The Mobile Wallet Company to issue print-based coupons in national newspapers that customers added to their mobile wallets by using either a QR code or a link.

By linking the vouchers to a mobile device, the retailer was able to measure and track redemption values from a number of different voucher placements to the point of sale.

“We were keen to trial the mobile wallet to see if it would drive customers in store,” said Iceland marketing director Neil Hayes.

“To date, the results have been very promising. While print still plays a key role for coupon-based offers, the wallet played a measurable role and we are confident that it brought new customers to Iceland.”

Following the success of this trial, Iceland said it plans to test other elements of the technology in its marketing campaigns.

“It has been an amazing first test of the technology with Iceland,” said The Mobile Wallet Company MD Will Proops.

“We look forward to working with them and utilising other aspects of the native wallet with their new audience, such as location technology to offer more localised offers, reminders of deals, and sampling for new product ranges and launches.”

Next: Visit the NFCW Expo to find new suppliers and solutions