Passbook is Apple’s digital-coupon storage app. It launched as part of iOS 6 in September with the promise of storing boarding passes, movie tickets, event passes, loyalty cards and coupons. Sensitive to time and location, it’s potentially really useful for marketers and customers - and with more Passbook-ready apps now available in the Aussie app store it’s finding momentum here. (Haven’t heard of Passbook yet? It launched with a whimper, you’ll be hearing more about it soon). Australian passes include:
- Virgin Australia travellers have been able to add boarding passes to Passbook since launch.
- Ticketek customers have been able to add ticket purchases to Passbook since launch.
- Qantas travellers who complete domestic check-in on their iPhone can add their boarding pass to Passbook.
- Myer integrated gift cards with Passbook this month.
- Kayak, moshtix, Eventbrite, LivingSocial and Spreets also support Passbook passes (plus more here).
Passbook provides a useful platform for loyalty cards, gift cards, tickets and coupons. A recently filed patent hints Apple is planning to update Passbook with Near-Field Communication (NFC) technology, which means relevant passes could be displayed as soon as someone is near a known store. Passbook is already location-aware, but NFC would make it more relevant and useful.
How can you use Passbook to be useful to your customers? Let us know if we can help.
