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Et Tu, Transit Authority?

The Montreal transit authority has launched a rewards-based loyalty mobile app that it hopes will please current customers and encourage new ones to get on board.

Here’s another example of just how big the mobile commerce world is: Even the transit authority is doing it.

Société de transport de Montreal (STM) recently launched a mobile loyalty app that rewards riders for using public transit. After downloading the app, people provide some personal details (interests, preferences, etc.), and then start receiving alerts on their phones about discounts they can get from shops, theaters or concert halls when they pass by. STM wants to thank its current customers and attract new ones.

It’s brilliant. Let’s say you’re headed to Montreal Canadiens game, along with thousands of other hockey fans. Rather than wait in line so that you can stuff yourself sardine-style into a bus or subway car, why not go a couple of hours early and grab a drink or meal with some friends in the neighborhood of the arena? Through the app, STM can guide you to local deals. It’s good for you (save money, avoid lines). It’s great for STM, because it just shifted the time of your journey, which helps manage a peak flow times.

Because you’re traveling, STM know where you are. It knows where you’re going because it knows where its routes are, and it knows which merchants are nearby. STM can go to merchants and let them know that 20,000 people are coming into their neighborhood. That’s a pretty target audience for a merchant to be able to reach in such a personal way.

If you want to read more about it, STM contributed a full article in our latest Mobile Commerce Guide. If you read French or trust Google Translate, here’s an article from a Montreal newspaper.

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