MiiBrand’s Shop & Unlock promo looks to push online shoppers in-store

Mobile shopping app MiiBrand is launching a promotion called Shop & Unlock for retailers, with the aim of encouraging consumers to redeem online offers within bricks and mortar stores.

MiiBrand is an invite-only, location-aware app that alerts members of nearby offers and discounts when they’re out shopping.

It allows marketers to target and engage loyal brand fans and drive them in-store to redeem offers via their mobile phones.

MiiBrand, which is led by Ben Howden, will run a Christmas promotion called Shop & Unlock from December 13 to December 23.

The promotion, which aims to highlight how online and offline retailers can work together, will allow consumers to unlock surprise offers from their favourite brands and redeem them in-store.

News of the promotion comes after retail king Solomon Lew hit out at the Federal Government for failing to lower the tax-free threshold for goods bought online from overseas websites.

Lew criticised the government for taking no action to scrap or lower the threshold, despite recommendations from a dedicated taskforce, the Productivity Commission and retailers.

With regard to Shop & Unlock, Howden says MiiBrand is targeting major retailers as they can add more credibility to the campaign.

“So far we have eight major fashion retailers taking part including Adidas, Armani Exchange, Decjuba, Diesel, LIFEwithBIRD, Mossimo, Superdry and Witchery,” Howden says.

“We expect more to confirm their participation in the coming days.”

“The promotion is really built around the connections people have to their favourite brands – we built MiiBrand [based on] that affiliation people have with their favourite brands,” he says.

“When you get to smaller retailers, it probably doesn’t happen as much.

“The other challenge we have is to add value to our user base across Australia. It’s better for people when a brand has multiple stores because it often adds more value.”

That’s not to say smaller retailers can’t imitate the Shop & Unlock promotion, although there are challenges, according to Howden.

“I think that’s definitely possible…But it’s a bit of a challenge with regard to where the technology is at the moment and building apps that have the ability to leverage GPS,” he says.

“That often makes it a bit challenging for smaller, individual retailers to do that. They have to build their own platforms, which is expensive, and distribution becomes really challenging.”

But if they can master the task of building a location-aware app, the benefits are worth it, Howden says.

“[Shop & Unlock] will allow us to see where [the offers] were triggered – where most people are shopping and using the actual MiiBrand app,” he says.

“We haven’t put any particular numbers down at this point [with regard to sales forecasts]. We just thought it was a really interesting concept to test out and see how consumers respond to it.”