This could possibly be the end of every male’s nightmare – having to wander around a shopping centre for hours on end, waiting for the missus to find the best deal or the store with the biggest discounts.

With location based mobile services gaining popularity in Australia, we might no longer need to navigate through rows and levels of shops on the hunt, but instead, just turn to our trusty smart phones.

NAVTEQ, a US-based content provider of maps, traffic and places data reveals that two thirds of Australian mobile phone users “find it appealing to receive location-based offers when shopping”. A survey that NAVTEQ conducted also found that shoppers were keen on receiving timely offers while shopping without the need to search.

With 75% of mobile phone users found to be willing to use opt-in SMS advertising functions to receive geo-targeted offers and 34% saying that they would permanently leave the application switched on to be able to receive relevant promotional messages, it appears that mobile advertising works particularly well when offers or messages are location and user-relevant.

“Advertising is not just going mobile, it is going local,” says Kirk Mitchell, vice president of Oceania Sales at NAVTEQ. “Australians are open to receiving location-based discounts and promotions in the form of display advertising on the phone, as long as they offer real and immediate value. When offers are location-targeted, they become that much more relevant to a consumer”.

With 70% of Australians with GPS-enabled devices using GPS at least two to three times a month, Mitchell believes that “location targeting presents an unprecedented opportunities for advertisers to target consumers when they are near a point of purchase and then route them to a merchant’s location”.

Mat Baxter, CEO of Universal McCann says: “Location targeting enables the advertiser to meet consumers where they are at times of great relevance in the consumer experience, at the point of purchase. This type of contextual advertising offers real value to advertisers and consumers alike, which in turn leads to greater conversion and a better experience with the brand”.

Marketing mag’s sister company, Money Saver, has just launched the free MoneySaver App that features money-saving vouchers Australia-wide. You can either search for offers by category, or use the GPS function to find all your local deals. Available at http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/moneysaver/id436082694?mt=8#