• by Mark Walsh  @markfwal, June 4, 2010

Coupons and special deals are spreading fast across cell phones as businesses from coffee shops to national retailers like Target and the Gap try to lure customers with incentives delivered to their handsets. But special offers, whether in print, online or mobile, are almost by definition time-limited to help ensure a strong response.

San Francisco-based startup Mobile Spinach is putting its own twist on that model, allowing local businesses to offer lifetime discounts on everything from meals to theater tickets to hotel rooms through its mobile marketing system. Small businesses pay Mobile Spinach a minimum of $200 to distribute offers targeted to nearby shoppers who have signed up with the company to receive mobile offers based on expressed preferences.

The new "Discount for Life" program will let merchants promote offers that consumers will be able to redeem once per visit each day for life. There is something of a catch, however. Only the first 100 people to respond to a given offer will be eligible for the lifelong discount. And to find out if they are one of the lucky 100, they will have to go to the venue and purchase the special deal being promoted.

The idea behind the initiative is to reward loyalty rather than simply have people taking advantage of one-off discounts, according to Mobile Spinach CEO John Vitti. "We're getting a lot of feedback from merchants saying they're unhappy with deal jumpers that order one thing and might not come in again," he said. "They still need a solution for customer loyalty."

With the Discount for Life effort, Vitti said the company wanted to "try doing something different, a little more fun" than more traditional loyalty programs that offer rewards after a certain number of visits. Competing with a growing list of mobile and online coupon companies like Groupon and Yowza, it's not surprising that Mobile Spinach would aim to differentiate itself from the pack with a different type of offer.

The company is testing the long-term approach to deals with about a dozen businesses in New York and San Francisco before expanding to other cities where it operates including Boston, Los Angeles and New York.

Discount for Life deals in San Francisco include 50 percent of any draft beer at Butter in the city's SOMA neighborhood, $2 off any burrito at Pancho Villa Taqueria in the Mission district and a 2 for 1 deal on drinks at the SIP Bar and Lounge in North Beach. Restaurants, bars and spas so far have shown the most interest in offering the long-term deals, according to Vitti.

In addition to its own site, Mobile Spinach also distributes offers through location-based services like Loopt and Brightkite. Overall, it sends offers to 5.4 million mobile users daily from about 500 local business around the country. Loopt itself last week unveiled a loyalty program that includes offers from national restaurant and retail chains including Burger King, the Gap and Starbucks.