Daily Deals For Moms: Plum District Debuts iPhone App, Local Loyalty Program To Follow

Plum District, the mom-focused deals site backed by $30 million in funding from General Catalyst, KPCB and Comcast Ventures, is now available as a mobile app. The company is today launching its iPhone application which will allow users to browse offers on their phone, purchase them with one click and the redeem them at local and online stores. An Android version will soon follow.

The app’s debut follows Plum District’s acquisition of a mobile loyalty platform called Chatterfly back in December, which the company said at the time would soon be used to expand the relationship between moms and local merchants.

Chatterfly had previously offered a digital loyalty program, which rewarded users for making purchases in stores, but also for sharing their experiences on social networks like Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and Google+. However, the Plum District iPhone currently forgoes the loyalty angle for a more traditional “deals and offers” type of interface. But the loyalty program is now in development, as is a forthcoming “flash sales” feature. There will also be a philanthropic component in later versions, which will encourage moms to donate to local charities.

In the app that’s available today, there’s a list of the available deals and a “purse” where you can track unused, redeemed or “all” deals. The deals can also be shared via email or Facebook. To promote the app’s launch, users are being given 20% off their first purchase (August 13-15 only).

Before creating the app, the company surveyed 1 million of its members to find out what they were interested in. Over 70% told the company they wanted to shop on the phone and wanted an easier way to find local businesses. 46% used shopping apps and 28% used apps to find nearby stores. Charles Yim, Plum District’s Head of Mobile (and former CEO of Chatterfly) said that the Plum District website, prior to today’s app launch, was already seeing around 25% of its traffic from mobile devices.

Yim also tells me that Plum District now has 1.3 million members, which is up from the 1 million it had in December, and it’s now on track to reach 2 million members by year-end.

You can download the new app here in iTunes.