While this has clearly been the season for m-commerce, that has not meant that retailers have neglected more traditional—for the technology that is—mobile offerings: apps. Krispy Kreme Doughnuts is taking advantage of one its best-known icons–its "HOT NOW" signs in store windows that glow when the doughnuts are freshly made–to brand a new app and desktop widget.

The application, developed by ad agency Barkley, alerts users when the Hot Now light comes on at a store nearby. The app, which is available for iPhone and Android phones, and as a computer desktop widget, tracks when a participating Krispy Kreme shop has its Hot Light turned on.

App users can choose how often they'd like to receive notifications or search for active Hot Lights nearby.

Incentivized Apps Mostly Discarded or Ignored

Besides the brand, the Krispy Kreme app has another factor in its favor—it doesn’t try to incent users to get to a store.  Such a tactic doesn’t work in the long run, according to a survey by Harris Interactive on behalf of Pontiflex.

It found that 37% of smartphone owners who have downloaded an application for an incentive, such as free social or game points, say that they redeem the incentive and uninstall the app, while a further 25% receive the incentive and never use the app again. It also found that just 3% say they use the app often, while a similar proportion hardly ever uses the app (17%) as uses it occasionally (18%).