Tech Guest Viewpoint - Proximity Marketing brings Shoppers to Stores

By Alex Romanov, iSign Media



The holiday season is a time of family, food, and frenzied shopping. Consumers are bombarded by messages, promotions, discounts, and offers, and retailers have to be smart about how they reach out to their customers. Email blasts or paper coupons just won’t cut it. In this mobile-obsessed era, proximity marketing is a powerful way to break through the noise and bring shoppers into your store.



Before the explosion of mobile devices, proximity marketing involved actions like handing out fliers or putting up an eye-catching sign. Today, proximity marketing is the localized wireless distribution of advertising content based on a particular place and time. Retailers install Bluetooth-transmitting devices that recognize consumers by their smartphones when they are nearby, and this triggers relevant messages accordingly.



Mobile Devices Aid Marketing

Despite the strong growth of ecommerce, brick-and-mortar retail still represents more than 90% of total retail sales. However mobile devices are a powerful marketing vehicle, even for consumers who prefer to buy in-store. Mobile has eclipsed desktop as the primary tool for product research, and 80% of consumers use mobile to enhance their in-store experience. Mobile shoppers focus on price and location when making purchase decisions, and nearly 2 out of 3 mobile shoppers ultimately make a purchase.



Proximity Marketing Enables Engagement

Unlike television advertising -- which involves mass-delivering your message to people who are at home on the couch -- proximity marketing enables retailers to engage with consumers when they are out shopping, and thus more likely to take advantage of an offer. You can capture their impulse with easy-to-act on incentives, and distinguish yourself from other retailers since you are the one with the store right in front of them. This strategy also lets retailers cast a wider net. You can attract consumers who are in range of your store, not just those on your email list.



Another benefit to proximity marketing is it gives retailers access to valuable data that just wasn’t available before. In-store customers or shoppers walking around a mall don’t leave the same data trail as someone browsing for gadgets online. By installing a device that collects customer data, retailers can analyze their customers’ preferences and behaviors, such as in-store shopping frequency, dollar value per item, basket size, and length of stay, in a way that respects their privacy. Data can also be used to make operations or layout more efficient. If one part of the store is consistently ignored, location-aware technology could pick up that, and the shelves could be rearranged.



The Tailored Approach

Furthermore, data empowers retailers to tailor content to each user by factoring time and place, as well as every consumer’s unique preferences and habits. For example, with proximity marketing technology, a clothing store can notify a nearby shopper that her favorite brand is on sale, or a grocery store can send mobile coupons to someone as soon as they walk in the store.



Someone who is in a store or shopping area during the holiday season is about as motivated a shopper as you can get. They want to find good deals, and a retailer who is able to hit the right customer with the right offer at the right time will finish up the year on a powerful, and lucrative note. Connecting with people via mobile at-the-point of sale, especially during the hustle-and-bustle of holiday shopping, is too valuable an opportunity to pass up.




Alex Romanov is CEO of iSign Media