M Cashback worked with software developer iMeta Technologies in the United Kingdom to tie the checkout scanners, electronic cash registers and other systems together with mobile phone operators and M Cashback.

The Thai mobile operator working with M Cashback hopes to extend the program to other types of stores beyond supermarkets.

"The program started in mid-April and 500,000 people have already signed up," said Arunporn Limskul, assistant vice president at Advanced Info Service, one of Thailand’s largest mobile operators. Her company hopes to extend the program to book stores, electronics retailers and other outlets.

The companies involved with M Cashback say it may be one of the first systems to accurately match customer buying habits with products. The system provides M Cashback with a detailed record of which promoted products each user bought. It plans to use this information for targeted ad campaigns, but insists it will ask users for permission first and never reveal data they want to keep private.

"If you’re targeting a promotion to a customer who regularly buys a certain product, it’s good for everyone. The customer will get money toward their phone bill, and the product maker, say Coke, sells their product," said Kruse.

In Thailand, customers at Big C can get M Cashback promotions on 600 to 700 items, up from about half that number when the program started a few months ago.

"Customers like the system because they spend their money anyway, and this is a way for them to get cash back," Limskul said.

-Dan Nystedt, IDG News Service (Taipei Bureau)

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