Coupons Inc.'s Coupons.com and Money Mailer Direct Marketing have partnered to increase the amount of coupons searchable via mobile and available online to consumers nationwide.

Coupons Inc. powers thousands of Web sites and an expanding mobile platform and claims to be the world's leading provider of printable coupon marketing and technology services. The strategy was to combine Coupons Inc.'s distribution network and Money Mailer's reach, which includes 22 million households through shared mail.

"The use of mobile for couponing takes three forms: using the mobile mechanism to find offers, select them and have them sent to consumers' inbox for printing; using handsets to select offers and having consumers present them when they are checking out; and finding offers on handsets and sending them to consumers' frequent buyer card," Steven Boal, CEO of Coupons Inc., Mountain View, CA.

"Money Mailer is collaborating with us on the first and second options, which makes a lot of sense for both of us," he said.

While the first option is already available, the program pushing coupons onto consumers' mobile phones and letting them redeem them in-store by showing their mobile screen at the POS will be available by end of year present.

On Oct. 23, the loyalty card platform for grocery retail will launch. Consumers can select offers via their handset and then have them delivered to their loyalty card for use in store.

"The printable coupon model is the lion's share of our business, while the straight-to-card model is a niche part of business, because many grocery retailers don't have loyalty cards," Mr. Boal said.

Money Mailer will be able to increase its circulation by an average of 20 percent using the Coupons Inc. DigitalFSI network.

Advertisers on Coupons Inc.'s sites currently include national consumer package goods giants such as Johnson & Johnson, Kraft, General Mills and Kimberly-Clark.

Its clients and licensees include Kraft Foods and Clorox, as well as more than 100 grocery retailers including Kroger and Safeway.

This new relationship with Money Mailer now expands Coupons Inc.'s offerings to include more service-oriented coupons from local business such as restaurants, automotive shops, retailers and home and professional service providers.

In June, Coupons Inc. and Yahoo expanded their relationship to enable consumers to discover and redeem coupons from their mobile phones while on the go.

According to a recent Simmons/Experian study, the number of people turning to the Web for coupons soared to 38.6 million in 2008, an increase of 13 million people, or 52 percent, since 2005.

Through the strategic partnership, Money Mailer's business clients can tap into this rapidly expanding portion of the online community searching for savings on the Web.

Coupons Inc. is able to populate the sites that it serves and its Brandcaster promotions network with a large offering of local coupons available online and on mobile devices.

Coupons Inc. claims that by expanding the Money Mailer reach and its online offering, this strategic partnership will generate more revenue for their publishers and greater savings for consumers.

Money Mailer and its network of about 275 franchises across the United States will be actively selling distribution on the Coupons Inc. network as part of its integrated package of direct marketing solutions available to businesses locally, regionally and nationally.

Money Mailer Direct Marketing is able to target U.S. consumers using a variety of methods ranging from direct mail to mobile phone advertising.

Coupons Inc. provides clients with coupon promotional opportunities that appeal to key customer demographics.

"There's a lot of talk about mobile couponing, and a lot of brands are testing it, but a lot of the companies that are popping up based solely around mobile couponing can't get scale," Mr. Boal said. "This is the first time there has been a solid mechanism for scaling mobile and local together.

"We're achieving the scale to bring value to merchants and consumers," he said.