• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, July 8, 2015

The ability to share electronic coupons could become one of the biggest lead-generation strategies for brands. The average shopper spends $41.17 per shopping trip when using coupons, while heavy digital coupon users spend $63.97, according to a study by Coupons.com.

Beacons and electronic wallets will pave the way -- especially for the millennial generation, who apparently have beacon-ready apps on the phone whether or not they know it. Some 20% of 41 million Millennial women in the U.S. use beacon-enabled apps, according to InMarket, which supports beacon technology. Having the ability to share those coupons, and pay it forward, would drive a higher number of leads.

Under Armour's apps support beacon technology. The brand's vision and plan to know its consumers better has led it to interconnect its apps to share data and run a series of texts with beacons in some of its stores. The brand has begun serving promotions and coupons through beacons in a few of its brand stores. Based on the data that consumers feed the apps, the alerts serve up to consumers who have downloaded one of the brand's apps, such as MyFitnessPal, MapMyFitness, and Endomondo.

Similarly, Under Armour also plans to test the campaign in unidentified retail stores in Q3 2015. The promotions, marketing material and advertisements are based on predictive insights gleaned from the data the consumer inputs into the app. The messages and discounts serve up through the app as alerts to the consumer's smartphone on a cost-per-view basis.

More than 300 engineers in Austin develop technology focusing on the vision to make people better athletes, which the company defines as anyone trying to live a healthier lifestyle. Data collected from people using specific Under Armour apps -- such as the 35-year-old dad working hard to complete his first 5K -- gets turned into useful information and fed back to consumers in an effort to make them better athletes. 

Today, MyFitnessPal tells users how much they will gain if they consume a specific number of calories daily, but in the future Under Armour wants to estimate how the person's sodium intake will influence their long-term health.

All this data becomes helpful when trying to build a better one-on-one relationship with consumers, which in turn means sending them promotions and coupons they can use or share with friends and family.

Electronic coupons work to drive leads for a variety of consumer markets. Forrester Research Analysts Collin Colburn and Shar VanBoskirk in the research report, Count On Contextual Coupons, agree consumers value coupons differently. Some 65% of consumers age 55 and older use coupons for food-and-beverage purchases, and 73% value loyalty programs. They suggest loading digital coupons onto loyalty cards, which Under Armour essentially does only with apps. Minnesota supermarket chain Lunds & Byerlys did this and increased its average basket size by 50%.

Some 40% of shoppers, with an annual household income of $150,000 or higher, found coupons with a search engine, according to Forrester. The analysts tell us in the report that Gilt City, a luxury deals aggregator, woos wealthy searchers with promotions for high-end products and services.