Mobile wallets and sophisticated targeting will be two factors behind growth.

Coupons are very popular among consumers, as are mobile phones. The combination of the two will become a potent force in the world of mobile commerce, according to a new report from Juniper Research.

The total redemption value of mobile coupons will exceed $43 billion globally by 2016 as coupons are increasingly delivered via mobile apps; this is an eightfold increase from $5.4 billion in value to be redeemed this year, Juniper Research predicts.

Mobile coupons can be part of a retailer’s advertising, payments and loyalty m-commerce initiatives. And most organizations debuting mobile wallets are including coupon components. A mobile wallet, such as Google Inc.’s Google Wallet, is a smartphone-based account that consumers can use to pay for goods in stores. Retailers can deliver coupons through mobile wallets to consumers, who can redeem the coupons at the point of sale through their smartphones.

On another front, mobile coupon technology providers are becoming increasingly sophisticated in their ability to target consumers based on the consumers’ location, social media usage and other demographic factors. This is a driving force in increased redemption of mobile coupons, Juniper Research says.

“Mobile coupons are going mainstream,” says Juniper analyst and report author David Snow. “Cost-effective mobile coupon campaigns are now within the reach of smaller retailers providing them with an easy way to drive profitable footfall and build customer loyalty. To ignore the potential of mobile coupons would be to ignore the future of mobile commerce.”

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Snow stresses in the report the importance of users freely opting in to mobile coupon programs and not being subjected to unwanted promotions.

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