Sainsbury's is hoping to become the first supermarket retailer to offer consumers money-saving vouchers via their mobile phones.

Speaking exclusively to The Grocer, group development director Darren Shapland revealed that Sainsbury's was involved in a major push to "link things that are happening physically with those that are done digitally" and that coupons on mobile phones would be "the next move on that sort of thing".

Sainsbury's wanted to ensure "everything you do has the capability to be done on a mobile", he said after the 'Morning with management' at its Crayford store earlier this month.

"Other businesses have done those sorts of things on a smaller scale," he said. "At the moment, you can just get a physical coupon [at the till at Sainsbury's]. The concept of coming into stores with coupons that have already been sent and you can now use is how these things will link together".

Shapland added that the retailer intended to be "on every format", including iPhone and iPad, and would make greater use of social media to publish messages and receive feedback. Financial services and online digital were "big areas and growth channels in which we're investing a lot of money and know-how in the future", he said, adding that Sainsbury's was also "looking at how we might use barcodes to provide more information".

IT director Rob Fraser confirmed the retailer was revamping its website to allow shoppers to use a single checkout for food and non-food items. "We are a year into a big programme that will see us change our food website to offer better substitutions and more payment choices," he said.

Sainsbury's 'coupon at till' service was launched in September 2009 and draws on data from its loyalty card scheme Nectar to issue money-off coupons for branded and own-label products at the checkout.

At the retailer's fourth-quarter trading update last month, CEO Justin King said it was one of the reasons the retailer was "well-positioned" for growth.

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