More than 500m people across the world will use mobile coupons next year, an increase of 30 per cent, according to Juniper Research.

The majority of users will be in the Far East and China, where the Dianping daily deals app has already seen more than 40m downloads.

Despite receiving plenty of flack, Groupon is a top 10 Android shopping app in 22 countries and top 10 in the lifestyle category on iOS in 26 countries.

This rise will be fuelled by the integration of couponing features into social networks and the rise of mobile wallets like Apple’s Passbook. The availability of wallet solutions may explain the shift identified in the report from immediate redemption to storing coupons on-device.

Juniper’s Mobile Coupons – The Smart Way to Shop report also found that brands are no longer using coupons just to drive retail footfall – new strategies will focus on long-term engagement. Data gathered by retailers is now being used to personalise coupon campaigns and not only to assess progress.

But the report cautioned a ‘POS bottleneck’ as some retailers are showing a reluctance to upgrade sales terminals to manage the redemption of mobile coupons.

Dr Windsor Holden, author of the report, said: “POS terminals can have a lifespan of a decade or more, so understandably retailers are wary about disrupting the terminal lifecycle and investing in new technology – whether NFC or barcode scanner – without being able to demonstrate a clear return on that investment .”