Tag: mobile marketing

Local Corp has just announced that it will be powering this feature for the Microsoft search engine.

The operator of the Local.com search site, Local Corp, has just announced that it will be responsible for providing the geolocation based listings for products and services on the Bing search engine.

The shares of the company skyrocketed on the Nasdaq by 41 percent following the original announcement.

According to the company, the geolocation product listings search feature will be powered by the Krillion shopping data platform which is owned and operated by Local. That platform provides consumers with information regarding local shopping opportunities such as consumer products from retailers. This includes current discounts, comparison pricing, the availability in store, and images.

Geolocation technology is used to make certain that the shopping data is relevant to the consumer’s current location.

This is helpful to mobile consumers who are looking for products and services that they can purchase at a nearby brick and mortar store location. It also helps to make sure that they will find the best deal in doing so, providing them with options that are available from all of the various shops that carry the desired item within their area.

This geolocation feature will give Bing the opportunity to provide local search results for consumers that can be refined down to retail stores, brands, and the actual availability of the specific item within a designated store location.

Krillion was originally acquired by Local just over two years ago. The acquisition was clearly a clever one, and it is certain to pay for itself many times over after having been integral to the geolocation results deal between Microsoft’s Bing and Local. Moreover, Microsoft isn’t the only large search engine company that has been involved in a partnership with Local. Google, Inc. is currently Local’s largest partner and was responsible for generating 44 percent of its revenue last year. Twenty one percent of its revenue, last year, came from Yahoo! Inc., another partner. At the moment, the market share in the United States for Google is 67 percent, with another 11 percent belonging to Yahoo! Bing is also on the rise, having risen to its current place at 18 percent over 16 percent at this time last year.

The goal of the use of the technology is to encourage people to return to the showrooms.

As a growing number of consumers look to the internet, instead of physical showrooms, to help to make their purchasing decisions when it comes to their next cars, SUVs and pickup trucks, auto manufacturers are using new technologies, such as augmented reality, to rebuild the appeal of visiting the dealerships.

This is becoming especially important when marketing to Millenials, the next auto consumer generation.

Autotrader.com recently conducted a survey which discovered that Millenials are notably more likely to rely on word of mouth research than the Baby Boomer generation would. Furthermore, Millenials are also much more likely than Baby Boomers to go out of their way to try to avoid having to talk to the staff at a dealership when they do actually visit a showroom. This makes technology such as augmented reality vitally important to helping the dealerships to share the same amount of information, without necessarily requiring a person to person discussion.

Augmented reality can offer an interactive, informative experience, without a sales person’s assistance.

According to the Research and Marketing Analytics senior director, Isabelle Helms, “Millennials view the dealership as a key piece of their research process — they’re looking for experts to help answer their questions and to touch and test out the physical car before making a purchase.” She also went on to add that “That said, millennials want time and space to make the right decision, and will value the salespeople who provide the information they seek in a no-pressure way.”

Because of this, the visits to showrooms have been dropping over the last few years, which has limited the ability of automakers to show off all of the ways in which their vehicles stand out and can benefit the consumer. As this could lead to a potentially dangerous climate for automakers (particularly in the current retail environment), manufacturers have started embracing technologies such as augmented reality to attract buyers to the showrooms and to enchant them in the same way as a salesperson would, but without necessarily having to talk to that individual.

Both Toyota and Cadillac have been extensively exploring the potential advantages of augmented reality. They can provide a consumer with a three dimensional view of a vehicle – similar to what they would experience in a showroom – with considerably more detail than a standard two-dimensional image. The experience will also provide the viewer with additional information about a particular vehicle model.

This could make augmented reality an exceptionally powerful tool, particularly among Millenials and others who are seeking the showroom experience, without the salesperson.