the Holland Sentinel has launched a “Go Shopping!” section on the paper’s iPhone app and mobile website, m.hollandsentinel.com, that shows readers the weekly fliers offered by retailers.
Sentinel readers value weekly inserts and circulars, newspaper officials said, and the new method to access the offers reaffirms the paper’s commitment to readers and advertisers.
the launch this week involved 20 advertisers in a pilot collaboration between retailers, the Associated Press and 40 newspapers, including the Sentinel.
Clicking on the “Go Shopping!” section of the Sentinel app on supported phones lets users browse retailers’ ads and view deals in their area. the “Go Shopping!” section is available to iPhone and Android users.
In addition to offering the mobile version of weekly inserts and circulars, the shopping section helps readers find stores, make a shopping list, find store loyalty card information and share deals with others.
“our weekly print inserts and circulars have always been an important part of serving our audience and, for many readers, it’s the primary place they come to find out what’s on sale and plan their shopping,” said Pete Esser, publisher of the Holland Sentinel.
“We are very excited to be able to deliver this product to our readers as part of our mobile offerings.”
Retailers rely on newspaper insert advertising, according to a study by Frank N. Magid Associates, because 58 percent of Americans use circulars regularly to plan shopping.
Extending circulars to mobile devices is a natural progression as studies indicate mobile phones will overtake PCs as the dominant Web access device by 2013, according to Pew Research Center’s “State of the News Media 2011” report. it notes 47 percent of Americans already get their news from mobile devices.
“In the last year alone, the Holland Sentinel’s mobile audience has grown to more than 18,000 monthly news readers on mobile devices,” said Janet Johnson, Sentinel advertising director. “With our mobile Go Shopping! section, we are creating a marketplace for the mobile shopper to find that best buys at their favorite local retailers."