These mobile promotions are sending consumers into stores where they are making their purchases.
A new report has now been issued by BI Intelligence which has shown that geolocation based marketing techniques are blurring the line that exists between the physical and the digital environments.
Techniques using this technology are helping to send consumers into brick and mortar shops.
This has been causing marketers to take advantage of geolocation based marketing techniques to help to encourage foot traffic into physical store locations by targeting smartphone users on their devices at the moments that they are already close to one of the shops. Of course, to be able to accomplish this goal, it means that those companies need to be able to identify the locations of the consumers and then use it properly to provide a relevant and appealing draw into the store.
New geolocaion based marketing incentives are using technology to help accomplish that goal.
Within a new BI Intelligence report, three different forms of approach to this technology have been studied. They are geoconquesting, geofencing, and geoaudiencing. Each of those uses similar technologies in a slightly different way. The report also examined some of the most effective applications that are providing consumers with enough value that they are willing to share their location with a brand or company.
What the report determined was that while these services are growing in their acceptance across the United States, they don’t appear to be growing in actual adoption. At the moment, a healthy 74 percent of American smartphone owners have reported that they use mobile location based services in some way or another. Though this is a good percentage, it is about the same as it was last year. This indicates that the tech isn’t becoming any more popular than it was a year ago.
The report also pointed out that check ins are starting to slide in their popularity. Though there were 18 percent of American device users saying that they were using local-social networks to check-in in February 2012, that figure is now closer to 12 percent. By understanding the latest insight in geolocation based marketing, marketers can better keep up with the trends and achieve the greatest ROI.
The technology giant has found a unique way to personalize the in store shopping experience.
Apple has now debuted its Bluetooth based in store retail mobile marketing geolocation technology called iBeacon, which gives companies the opportunity to communicate with shoppers who have entered their shops at exactly the moment that they are most receptive to it.
This in store geolocation technology is starting to work its way into a growing number of stores.
This form of retail mobile marketing makes it possible for users of iPhones who have the App Store app and whose Bluetooth device feature is turned on (in a device running iOS 7) to receive messages from a store that they have entered that will help to enhance their shopping experience. It could alert them regarding a promotion that is available in the store, provide them with the information that they need to upgrade a purchase, or even turn by turn in store directions to whatever product the shopper is seeking.
Although the concept behind this retail mobile marketing technology isn’t new, it does have its own Apple spin.
This version of geofencing gives retailers the ability to use this type of technology with much greater ease. When using iBeacon, it means that they can use effective “micro location” targeting. There are also great possibilities being seen by locations that have nothing to do with retail, such as museums, theme parks, green parks, or large events. The immediate success of the tech could mean that there could be a sharp spike in the use of these methods in a very short period of time.
At the same time, though, Apple isn’t the only player in this sphere. Google also has a keen interest in geolocation. However, until now, much of their attention has been placed on NFC technology, which was predicted to be a massive player but that is not experiencing nearly the explosion that many investors had hoped.
The leader in this style of retail mobile marketing has yet to be seen, but it will depend on the willingness of both retailers and consumers to opt in. There are a number of issues that could come into play, here, including the types of technologies that are most readily available, those most commonly used by consumers, and the willingness of consumers to hand over personal and location data to retailers on yet another level.